Pet plastic surgery on tv3...

Hooked

I'm sitting here wondering if I'm dreaming?

A couple of kittens have been declawed...

A pair of fake 'neuticles' have replaced a neutered dogs testicles (the owner wants his dog not to feel less manly)...

A bunny is having a neck lift...

A dog is being 'de-barked' (the surgeon does 7 of these a day) by removing vocal chords...


I thought I'd seen it all! The dog in particular looks traumatised!

Pumpkinseeds

I can never bear to watch those programmes. To me it's animal abuse. There is so much information out there now telling people how cruel and unnecessary de-clawing cats is. It quite literally handicaps them. I think most vets would refuse to do it. It's very simple, if people can't accept that claws are a fundamental part of a cat, they shouldn't get a cat. If they don't want a dog to bark, then they shouldn't have a dog:mad:

Hooked

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I can never bear to watch those programmes. To me it's animal abuse. There is so much information out there now telling people how cruel and unnecessary de-clawing cats is. It quite literally handicaps them. I think most vets would refuse to do it. It's very simple, if people can't accept that claws are a fundamental part of a cat, they shouldn't get a cat. If they don't want a dog to bark, then they shouldn't have a dog:mad:

The rabbits surgery was the only 'necessary' one. It couldn't clean itself as the enlarged chin fold was preventing it...

But, removing such essentials as claws and vocal chords... There's nowt as queer as folk!

And as for a dog missing its tesricles? Jesus wept.

Only in America! Why am I even surprised. After seeing that poor Rottie shot dead by heavy handed cops (for defending its owner), is it a wonder people pay for these 'surgeries' or that the surgeons even perform these procedures in the first place? An odd day to be a pet owner.

SpaceTime

A lot of those procedures are not allowed by the veterinary council here.

Crazy stuff! If you don't want claws don't get a cat. If you don't want barking don't get a dog.

sadie06

:eek: Just when you think you've heard it all.

SpaceTime

Pretty vile stuff. I mean apart from the trauma and pain involved, dogs use vocalisations to communicate and cats use their claws to manipulate things, to climb and to defend themselves.

The vets doing these mutilations should be struck off!

If you want to share your home with a pet, you have to be willing to compromise.

Lizard_Moon

I found that program terrible but watched to see how barbaric the procedures actually were. So pleased declawing, de barking and ear cropping all banned in UK and Ireland. Horrible mutilations.
Although interesting to see it was the older vet doing it and his vet tech was not very pleased about it. Also, for US, very low tech practice.

The two fold removals were to improve the quality of life in the bulldog and bunny.

The 'neuticles' don't cause the dog any harm. Also the clinic had all the facilities we expect in a high level establishment.

I am so happy to have never been exposed to those procedures in practice. Also delighted declawing and docking puppies now banned, nit that I ever would do it.

westies4ever

didnt watch a second of it. shame on the owners of those poor pets but the surgeons whe are manipulating and encouraging such procedures are even worse. Horrendous. :mad:

SpaceTime

I encountered a few 'devocalised' dogs in the USA when I was living there for a summer and they just sound really, really bad.

The dog bark sounded like he was choking! It was pretty horrendous to listen to.

I also had a stand-up argument with someone I was working with who was planning to have her elderly cat 'devocalised' because the cat was making too much noise.

Her vet also had a massive argument with her about it and refused point blank to do it or even recommend anyone else.

The poor cat was suffering from something like dementia and was going slightly blind and was just getting really needy. All he wanted was a bit of reassurance that someone was around. I think he was just a little bit confused.

Basically the cat was just following her around meowing (a bit like kitten behaviour). If you picked him up and gave him a bit of attention he'd just start purring, snuggle up and go to sleep.

All she wanted to do was 'shut the cat up'.

I convinced her to give him away to someone who actually knew something about looking after cats!

Couldn't believe someone would even consider doing something so stupid and crewel. Cats actually use really subtle vocalisations that is pretty much just a very basic form of speech. OK, they might not be able to have a conversation but they can ask for different things, they can use quite sophisticated intonations to express various emotional states etc etc.

I can definitely distinguish between our cats meows. There's a very definite greeting, ask for assistance (e.g. to open a door), look for help, frustrated, annoyed, angry, curious, hunting mode and then all the purring noises.

Dogs have a similarly complicated set of sounds that can express a huge array of things.

I mean, you can nearly have a chat with our dog. She definitely tries to communicate even if it's not the most interesting and deep level of 'conversation', she can still get across a few points like "OMG! There's a ball!"

carav10

Watched it too and cringed....

What was interesting was that the UK cases were clearly for the benefit of the animals and not the owners, but the US cases were for the ego's and benefit of the owners.

I have a friend in California and her cat is declawed. Reason she says she does it is because it would ruin the furniture and it is fully an indoor cat. However, it has to be an indoor cat, she never lets it out as the poor thing could not protect itself against an attack especially the coyotes who prowl at night.

The vet who cut the ears? Full of ego and all he did was mark the line with a pen and cut with a scissors!!

As for the neuticles....that represents serious insecurities on the owner than the dog....I mean...seriously.... I can't believe there are vets there that prey on the pyschiatric let downs of animal owners....

SpaceTime

The declawing thing is just nuts. I think I'd have to reevaluate my friendships if someone I knew did that.

We've had a cat in the house for as long as I remember and I have one in my house now and I have never, ever had an issue with furniture scratching.

You just have to put in a few scratching posts and some of those rough mats that you use at hall doors.

If the cat starts scratching furniture you just have to point out that it's not allowed and the cat very quickly learns.
They're not stupid and are actually highly trainable about stuff like that.

If you have a cat, you're going to have the odd scratch (especially from kittens / young cats).

I just find it nuts though, cats claws are as useful to them as our fingers are to us! OK, they're a lot sharper and a bit like having retractable razor fingers, but that's how they manipulate the world around them and how they defend themselves.

Also, if you bring a young animal into your house you just have to learn to deal with young animal behaviour too. They're just babies of a different species and haven't a clue what they're up to for a while and may scratch your furniture much like your kids might draw on your wallpaper!

Tranceypoo

Hooked wrote: »

I'm sitting here wondering if I'm dreaming?

A couple of kittens have been declawed...

A pair of fake 'neuticles' have replaced a neutered dogs testicles (the owner wants his dog not to feel less manly)...

A bunny is having a neck lift...

A dog is being 'de-barked' (the surgeon does 7 of these a day) by removing vocal chords...


I thought I'd seen it all! The dog in particular looks traumatised!

I kept seeing the trailers and thinking 'avoid avoid' cos I knew it would wind me up, I didn't realise a dog had been 'de-barked', I never even knew such a thing was possible, just insanely ridiculously uneccesarily cruel

Hooked

Tranceypoo wrote: »

I kept seeing the trailers and thinking 'avoid avoid' cos I knew it would wind me up, I didn't realise a dog had been 'de-barked', I never even knew such a thing was possible, just insanely ridiculously uneccesarily cruel

I know! I was just back last night after a spin on the bike with Hugo and my auld fella texted me 'tv3'... The de-barking was just nuts!

We have a husky, I'm just home for lunch and to feed him. We do some tricks and training before feeding. The amount of info he conveys through barks, woo-ing and talking... How can an owner remove such vital 'tools' as vocal chords... And a cats defences (claws).

Maddening

SpaceTime

Simplest solution is those people should be 'de-petted' as they clearly can't handle having any kind of animal in their house.

Rommie

We currently have eleven cats in the house, and nothing has been clawed except for the scratching posts. Couldn't imagine getting them declawed, absolutely horrible

SillyMangoX

My cats do claw my furniture, but you know what? It really doesn't make THAT much of a difference that I would remove their claws! So there's a little loose thread here or there, it's not the end of the world! Makes the house look more lived in I think! And there are such simple alternatives for stopping clawing, get a few scratching posts (I didn't see any in the house of that bag that got the cats claws removed), simply clip their nails so they don't snag in things (this is what I do, saves my skin when it comes to Dude kneading me!), or there are products available called soft paws, a little rubber cap you can put over the cats nails to stop the sharpness!

ABajaninCork

I used to live in Wimbledon with a couple of Americans. They had two beautiful Persian cats that had been declawed. And the cats were neurotic. I always wondered if it was because of the declawing...

rannerap

I could barely watch the show, it really wound me up. I have no problems with the bunny or bulldog getting the excess skin removed, it was for their benefit and will improve their quality of life. But the puppies getting their ears hacked off really upset me, especially when they were clearly in pain and distress, their ears looked vile after. The idiot who got her kittens declawed was the worst though! I have a kitten and sure she scratches me or things around the house but I knew that when I got her,I would never consider getting her declawed. The show said that it was banned in 20 countries for being inhumane, bloody right, apparently it would be akin to us having an inch off each finger lobbed off, but that in America 31 per cent of cats have it done. I really dont know what goes through some peoples heads, dont even get me started on the idiot who fixed her dog so it cant bark.

metaoblivia

I think any sort of plastic surgery done purely for cosmetic reasons on pets is appalling. I even find dying a pet's fur distasteful.

I'm from the US and just about every rescue I've come across has a "never to be declawed" policy when it comes to cats. I'm sure people agree to that then promptly ignore it, but it's still amazing to me the amount of people who do it and then turn around and claim to love cats. When I meet someone who tells me they've had their cats declawed, it takes a certain amount of self control for me to not tell them just how much I'm judging them at that moment. I've had cats my whole life - we got our first cat when I was 1 - and not one has been declawed. There are four cats in our house right now and they all have their claws and our furniture is fine. It saddens me that vets still do this procedure (although I know most do try to steer people away from it and provide a list of alternatives for them to try instead).

The same goes for barking dogs. I can't even believe a vet would agree to a completely unnecessary vocal chord surgery. Dogs bark, cats have claws - if you can't deal with that get a goldfish.

SpaceTime

I don't have that much self control and just tell them exactly what I think of them. It's the only way people get the message that its crewel.

boomerang

And it's very painful procedure, Rommie

SuperInfinity

Disgusting, horrible, cruel, abusive. I wanted to smack the "owners" who did that. Those people shouldn't be allowed to keep animals, they should be thrown in jail.

What they did to that poor dog, taking away his bark. And those cats.

And at one point a doctor came on and he was going to give the case for plastic surgery, as to how it may benefit them. And this is what his case was:

"This plastic surgery will make the owners happier and therefore it will make the pets happier. Because when the owner is happy it benefits the pets."

:mad: Such deranged thinking.

JustAThought

Begs the question, if these procedures are banned in Irekand because they. Are considered cruel & barbaric-then why are they being allowed on TV as entertainment.

Anyone whise seen it made a complaint to the broadcasting authority or ireland
who issues & has the power to revoke their broadcasting licenses?

Www.bai.ie

SpaceTime

I suppose, it could be seen as a documentary on American attitudes to animal welfare. Our disgust at it is something that might help to change attitudes in the US.

I would be hard to argue that tv3 shouldn't broadcast a programme basically putting the issue into the public domain. I don't think they're putting it forward as something they're suggested people go out and do.

looking_around

when I saw title..I thought it was going to be about the pets that have reconstruction surgery.. fixing a dogs muzzle.
Having to remove cats ears because of sun burn and stuff like that.

I've known of de-clawing and de-barking. I think it's sad. Same as cutting the ears and tails of some dogs.
Even "de-scenting" ferrets...people seem to think that that will change the ferrets overall smell >.<'

I'm glad to hear many of these procedures aren't allowed in Ireland. Is tail docking one of them? You don't often see a cocker with a natural tail.

ABajaninCork

Tail docking in Ireland is sadly not illegal - yet. I live in hope that the law will be changed.

However, tail docking is illegal in the UK (not sure about NI yet. The law has yet to be passed), except in the case of hunting and working dogs. Even then, it has to be done by a vet who has to certify the dog will be used for working/hunting purposes and has to be done within 5 days of birth. See here.

SuperInfinity

SpaceTime wrote: »

I suppose, it could be seen as a documentary on American attitudes to animal welfare. Our disgust at it is something that might help to change attitudes in the US.

I would be hard to argue that tv3 shouldn't broadcast a programme basically putting the issue into the public domain. I don't think they're putting it forward as something they're suggested people go out and do.

I agree it should be exposed, so instead of saying it shouldn't have been broadcast at all I'm going to make a complaint based on the tone of documentary and the way it was presented as entertainment. I notice that JustaThought also didn't say it shouldn't be broadcast. It's how it was portrayed in a kind of voyeuristic and entertaining thing that was really insensitive and offensive, an added insult to the animals.

It doesn't have to have such dark tones and clear implications of wrongdoing as "caught on camera" or a documentary on human brutality, since clearly there are people who actually approve of the practices. However the least they could have done is raised the important questions more, especially about the animals welfare. They could have given a more balanced view, which would involve showing how most professionals were completely against it. There was an upbeat tone throughout the whole thing that I found particularly disturbing, if even a little bit of human suffering was involved they wouldn't have it like that.

SpaceTime

Yeah, there could be grounds for a complaint on those points.

Knine

You will see lots of dogs at shows now with full tails. My own gundog breed has his tail and looks fantastic with it. By god it hurts though if he hits you with it.

boomerang

Sarannewrap wrote: »

in America 31 per cent of cats have it done.

Oh dear god, I didn't think it was that common. :(