Wikipedia gives this description of declawing:
Onychectomy is an operation to surgically remove the claws and part of the toes, most often of a household cat, though occasionally of other animals such as circus lions or dancing bears. This process involves amputating all or part of the distal phalanx, or end bone, of the animal's toes, and is popularly known as declawing.
Although common in North America, declawing is rarely practiced outside North America and is considered an act of animal cruelty in certain other regions (see "Declawing practices" below).
Apparently other regions in the country have outlawed it also.
Back in the 70's I worked for a veterinarian in Florida. I cried the first time I watched him "de-claw" a young cat. At that time all he did was anesthetize the cat, and using regular toenail (scissor type) clippers, lopped off the nail and last joint at the "knuckle". Imagine taking those selfsame clippers and removing your fingernail permanently at the first knuckle. But the poor kitties, coming out of anesthesia and you could see the pain in their eyes, you could see that it hurt to stand on the bandaged feet. My grandmother had her last two cats declawed, and they were forever tender on their feet, and were terrified to have them touched at all. The same type thing was done for removing puppy dew claws. Except curved scissors were used then to stop the bleeding a styptic powder or q-tip used on the wound. No anesthesia, and it was done within days of birth.
Docking tails on puppies wasn't much better as they were done so young and there was no anesthesia done on puppies. And Docking was done with a pair of sharp surgical scissors, and then a couple stitches put in. At least pups who were to have their ears cut, got the benefit of anesthesia. But it was after ear cutting that they had problems. In order to get the ears to "stand" tongue depressors with, hopefully cotton taped to the bottom, would be inserted in the ears, then the ear tips taped to the depressor to train the ear to stand straight up. This was done mostly on breeds like Dobermans, Pit Bulls, Great Danes, and Schnauzers. Either way, it was still a painful and traumatic experience for the animals.
Other animals suffer tail docking also. Sheep are docked, mostly using very tight rubber bands to cause the circulation to stop and the end of the tail to drop off. Many horse breeds still have their tails docked as foals either for "fashion" or because they still believe that without docking working horses' tails that they become entangled in harnesses, or will cause other problems or are difficult to deal with.Any of these for any animals is unacceptable anymore. It is mutilation, plain and simple. Fine if we make a conscious decision to mutilate ourselves, but why should we purposely mutilate our animals?
Why would you declaw? People who are very vain about their furniture will cite they don't want the cat to scratch the furniture, or them. Well then, provide plenty of scratching posts sprayed or rubbed with catnip to attract them to their "furniture" rather than yours. And yes you can train a cat, it's easier than you think.
Why dock tails? Vanity? On horses, how do they swat flies then? Flyspray is really ineffective, flies happen period. Their tails are the best defense. On dogs? Why? Is it because you are afraid the tail will sweep off your coffee table? Is it the style? No need for the style anymore.
Some old timers think animals don't feel the pain, they are just an animal. Uh excuse me? What makes them think this? Do they know personally that young animals, babies included here, don't feel pain at losing an appendage? Do you think an infant wouldn't feel it if you cut off his finger at the first knuckle? No different than declawing or docking. All the same actually, you are cutting off an appendage at a joint.
Ear cropping or docking, hoo boy, talk about a fashion gone way out of acceptance and style. Every so often I read about people cutting off their pit puppy's ears with common scissors and getting busted for it and charged with animal cruelty. They used to cut of pit's ears to give less purchase or one less appendage to be torn to shreds by the dog it is fighting. It's awful, ears provide protection to the inner ear of the dog. So stupid.
And my last gripe of the day is this, Spay and neuter your pets! Even "responsible" breeders are only adding to and compounding the over population problem. Majority of the litter your un-altered animal gives birth too is probably going to be euthanized because it cannot find a home.
While I don't agree with PETA most of the time. I mean their topics are not bad ones, they just get a little over exuberant on their efforts, this poster is probably one of the best ones I've see in support of spay and neuter.
2 comments:
"Don't cut off your pet's claws/tails/ears"
"But do remember to cut off their testicles and remove their uterus!"
Am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy?
Wolf makes a good point. I would also like to add that sheep have their tails docked for health reasons. Their own excrement causes massive infections if their tails are not removed. The modern breeds of sheep are not like their wild counterparts so to compare a domestic sheep with a wild one that has a tail would not make sense. As to horse's tails being docked off if they are harness horses, that is true. If you have ever been a witness to a horrific harness accident where a horse's tails got caught in the harness and made the incident worse then you would understand why their tails are docked. I personally would prefer the tail to be braided and tucked, much like a polo pony. It would do the trick to keep the hair from getting tangled with the harness.
In Britain it is illegal to have a dogs ears clipped or altered surgically for dog shows.
Post a Comment