Both also had ears that had been cut down to little stubs. Although the wounds had healed, I asked the owner what had happened. As they were old enough to have been legally imported, this explanation was plausible, but I still felt very uncomfortable and explained to the owner why cropped ears were illegal in the UK. In recent years, vets in the UK have seen a dramatic increase in the number of dogs with cropped ears, marking a frightening trend towards the normalisation of a mutilation that is horrific, unnecessary, and rightfully illegal in this country.
I want to be clear that there is no benefit to the dogs involved. In fact, it severely compromises their welfare. The procedure itself is painful, as it cuts through cartilage, and it can take weeks to heal, with pain every time the bandages are changed. Some people claim there are health benefits to ear cropping, but these are simply not true. Many of the breeds that have their ears cropped, such as Dobermans and American bulldogs, are not those we would consider at an increased risk of infection.
In short, there are rarely any medical reasons why a dog would need both its ears cropped. This rise in numbers may be fuelled by the increase in celebrities and social media influencers showcasing their cropped-ear dogs on platforms like Instagram, leading to the glamorisation and normalisation of this barbaric practice.
One explanation is that dogs with cropped ears are being imported from countries outside the UK where the procedure is still legal. Another is that dogs bred in the UK are being deliberately taken overseas for the procedure. We know there will be some cropped rescue dogs being given a new home in the UK, or families who own cropped dogs relocating here. Skip to content.
Home News archive What to do if you see a dog with cropped ears or a docked tail. News archive Share this page. We use cookies to improve user experience. It's a painful process where a dog's outer ears are removed altogether or are surgically altered, with the tips or huge sections of the outer ear being cut off.
It's against the law to carry out this procedure yourself or to send your dog to a vet in this country or abroad to have their ears cropped. Unfortunately, it still happens. In some medical situations, vets may perform a procedure called a pinnectomy that can look like the ears have been cropped. This is only done in the case of disease of the ears and is more usually required in white cats who can sometimes get skin cancer. The procedure is allowed when there are clear medical reasons - clearly very different to when ears are surgically altered for cosmetic reasons.
Tail docking is another procedure that is illegal unless carried out by a vet for medical reasons - and having a 'working dog' is not an exemption to the rule. No dogs should have their ears cropped. Hearing - Dogs' ears can move independently of one another and move towards the direction of sound so that they can be positioned in the optimal place for hearing. The outer ear is shaped to capture sound waves and funnel them into the ear canal and towards the eardrum.
It's not yet known whether surgical changes such as ear cropping affects hearing but it's possible. Communicating - Dogs use their ears to help us, and other animals, understand how they're feeling.
Without their ears, dogs have fewer ways of communicating with us. Body language - Where a dog's ears are placed, also known as their ear carriage, can help us understand if a dog is worried or happy and relaxed.
If a dog's ears have been removed, it can be more difficult to know how they're feeling. Dogs like Jess pictured are victims of these very reports. The two-year-old cane corso was saved by our rescue team earlier this year along with a litter of six pups. She'd had her tail docked and her ears almost entirely removed. She was - unsurprisingly - incredibly wary of people and it took staff months to build up her confidence and ability to trust.
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