Warning of animals being made into ‘commodities’

A global vets’ group has warned that animals risk being reduced to the status of “commodities” by being subjected to painful and often illegal cosmetic procedures.

The WSAVA has urged clinicians to educate pet owners on the harms caused by acts including the cropping of dogs’ ears and the declawing of cats.

‘Cosmetic mutilations’

Although legal restrictions are already in place in many countries, including the UK, the association fears that what it sees as “cosmetic mutilations” are becoming a growing problem.

A newly published position statement from its animal welfare committee said the pursuit of such procedures on grounds other than health and welfare “demonstrate a lack of recognition of the intrinsic value of animals as sentient beings”.

It also argued the actions have an underlying message that animals are “commodities to be altered and exploited in line with the preferences of people”.

Committee chairperson Heather Bacon said: “Elective surgeries should not be performed simply to alter an animal’s appearance or behaviour based on human preferences or tradition.

“All veterinarians have an ethical obligation to act in the best interests of their patients. We can all improve animal health and welfare outcomes by demonstrating leadership and evidence-based practice on these contentious issues, and by proactively engaging with communities to normalise and promote the value of healthy cats and dogs with intact toes, ears, tails and voices.

“We hope our position statement will support colleagues around the world in achieving this.”

Although ear cropping, tail docking and declawing are among the most common procedures of concern, the committee paper has also highlighted others such as debarking or devocalisation, dental cropping or cosmetic dentistry and body piercing.

It said: “Several convenience surgeries such as devocalisation or de-clawing, inhibit the expression of natural behaviours, and expression of symptoms of behavioural frustration without offering appropriate alternative opportunities for behavioural expression or coping with emotional frustration, increasing the risk of negative emotional experiences for the animal.”

The document has also urged kennel clubs and companion animal associations to “phase out any breed standards that require cosmetic mutilations and to take a health-focused approach to breed standards”.

But the statement does exempt spaying and neutering because of what it describes as the “associated welfare benefits to both individual animals and population management”, despite emerging concerns about potential health risks linked to the latter procedure.

It is also not applied to procedures used for identifying animals or returning animals that are lost, such as tattoos, ear tipping and microchipping.

Legislative loopholes

Although the act of carrying out procedures like ear cropping is already illegal in the UK, recent calls from within the profession to close legislative loopholes, such as the one that allows for the importation of dogs that have already had their ears cropped, have not been heeded by policymakers.

But, even without legislative change, the committee argues that the declarations taken by veterinary professionals when they join the sector require them to take a lead in showing owners the responsible way to care for their pets.

Dr Bacon said: “We do need better public education, enforcement and veterinary leadership on this issue, though, and we hope the statement supports vets and policy makers in these aspects.”

The full statement can be found at bit.ly/49Ckm9W