By Lynn Broom
Longmead Veterinary Practice.

Removal of body parts for preventative or cosmetic reasons has long caused emotive responses between those in favour and those against the procedures. They are all considered mutilations.
Tail docking for cosmetic reasons has been illegal in the UK since 2006. It remains legal if the tail is docked by a veterinary surgeon before the puppy is five days old and where evidence is provided that the puppy is likely to be used for working purposes. The puppy must be individually identified using a microchip and appropriate documentation completed.

It is illegal to show a dog with a docked tail – born after 2007 – unless it is of a working breed and has documentation to support the reason for the docking. There is evidence to show that puppies feel pain during the docking procedure, and it can lead to chronic tail pain, but supporters of it report the benefits of reduced risk of tail injuries as working adults.
Dew claws are the first digit on a dog’s foot and are the equivalent of our thumb. Many individuals are born without them, most have a single claw on both front legs and, less frequently, on the hindlimbs as well. Dew claws can be removed in puppies before their eyes open. Removing them after this age is an act of surgery and requires an anaesthetic.
Reasons for removal are less clear. Most dogs’ dew claws are at no higher risk of injury than other claws so long as the claw is kept clipped. Most dogs use their dew claws for gripping and during cornering when running. Amputating dew claws in an adult is the equivalent of removing any other digit with the associated pain and risks of bleeding and should not be done without good reason.

It is illegal to crop a dog’s ears for cosmetic reasons in the UK and much of Europe. Sadly, dogs with cropped ears are becoming more popular within certain parts of society and the British Veterinary Association (BVA) is campaigning for the law to be tightened in this regard. People with dogs with cropped ears will usually claim they were imported already cropped and the BVA is trying to get this loophole closed.
Ear cropping has no benefit to the dog and is an unnecessary mutilation carried out purely because some people like the look of a dog with cropped ears.
Declawing of cats is a fairly common procedure in the USA but remains illegal in the UK and has no benefit to the cat. It is generally performed to prevent clawing damage to soft furnishings.
Understanding why a procedure is done and what its benefits – or disadvantages – are to the animal is important. Making decisions based purely on aesthetics is morally and ethically wrong and should be outlawed by today’s society.