Ear Cropping

Should We?

When a pet owner enlists the surgical services of the Old Capital Veterinary Hospital to perform a cosmetic procedure, with no medical benefit, I have to be able to answer them. Often we can look to moral guidelines for such questions --- to “do” or “not to do”

The basis for being able to use moral decision making can be boiled down to the question ‘is there any harm to the individual?’ The harm could be to one or more individuals, now or in the future. If there is no harm……it is not a moral issue. Stealing something is a moral issue because someone gets hurt. However, deciding what tie to wear in the morning is not a moral decision because no one gets hurt.

With modern anesthesia and proper pain relief, many advocates claim that there is no pain and suffering in surgery. It follows that cosmetic surgery-----ear cropping and tail docking---- is not a moral issue. I see their point since we use lots of analgesics and pain relief in all of our surgeries. If you have followed me so far, then it looks like I need to look elsewhere for a clearer guide.

Many professional organizations have a governing body with bylaws and rules to guide them. As a Veterinarian, I chose to belong to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), just such a governing body. In our bylaws we can find what I prescribe to concerning purely cosmetic surgery in pet animals.

Under a section concerning ‘developing and evaluating animal welfare policies’ in the Animal Welfare Principles one can find 8 different statements regarding animal welfare. Two of these statements help in ethical decision making:

.     Animals should be cared for in ways that minimize fear, pain, stress and suffering

.     Animals should be treated with respect and dignity throughout their lives and when  necessary, provide a humane    death           

    As agreeable to these principles as I am, they still are a little ambiguous as to the rightness and wrongness of purely cosmetic surgery. It brings us closer to a concrete decision only in the fact the principle directly states that ‘pain and suffering should be minimized’ and that ‘animals have the specific gift of our respect and dignity’

 Let’s look a little further under the principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics in the AVMA. There exits a section entitled “Professional Behavior” (remember, this is not the federal government mandating behavior, this is a voluntary organization I choose to belong to) and also a section called “Influences on Judgment.” Here’s what they say:

.    Veterinarians should first consider the needs of the patient: to relieve disease, suffering, disability while minimizing pain or fear

.     The choice of treatments or animal care should not be influenced by considerations other than the needs of the patient, the welfare of the client and the safety of the public.

The position of the AVMA clearly states that the animal’s needs come first, and the decision should be influenced by the needs of the patient not the want of the owner. I fully agree. Purely cosmetic surgery is not necessary and I will not do it.

Sincerely, Dr Towsley