The humane society and conversation overheard about cruelty
By EvanHunter
@EvanHunter (4026)
United States
February 19, 2011 6:02pm CST
I drove my mother and her pets to the humane society for their shots (the pets not the mother). While there I heard a costumer and the receptionists having a debate about the woman's dog having its tail "docked" or cut off. Now I have heard similar arguments here on mylot about the same thing. The woman's argument was it keeps the dog from injuring its tail since it is an indoor dog. The girls behind the counter were like it's cruel and inhumane and pretty much just being very rude. I doubt that woman will ever go back there again that's for sure. But in all this it got me to thinking the human society (not all but on average) puts down a very large number of animals if they don't get adopted within a certain time frame. On top of that they push hard to get people to have their pets spaded or neutered. How is either of these two things more humane than getting your tail clipped or your eyes chopped. I know all the reasons why they put animals down and why its important to get your dog fixed. But speaking from the human perspective I think i would much rather get my tail (if I had one) and my ears clipped than get my balls cut out and be put down because I don't have a home. It seems like a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
3 responses
@innocents_lost (1026)
• Canada
25 Feb 11
there have been lots of recent studies mostly done with breeds such as Rotwielers that suggest that docking the tail can lead to future issues with the spine. Which makes since when you think about it as the tail is a section of the spine there for docking the tail is like removing a rather large portion of the dogs spine. also if not done at a young age it can be quite traumatic to the dog the same as having a leg or arm cut off for one of us. many countries have started to ban tail docking and ear cropping as it is done strictly for cosmetic reasons and has no health benefit to the animal its self and will no longer allow dogs with this done to be shown
@innocents_lost (1026)
• Canada
25 Feb 11
how do they know they had a histarectamy yea they are sore for a couple days and feel a little different but they do not know they are missing parts. not to mention when i neuter an animal its done at as young an age as possible. the animals are put under anistetic and wake up a little groggy and sore same as a person they don't realize something is missing expecaily not something such as a body part they use to express themselves. tails not only let people know when they are happy but are how other dogs read the body language of your dog. having know tail makes your dog harder to read and increases the chances of altercations. also 90% of tail docking and ear cropping are done while the animal is full awake
@innocents_lost (1026)
• Canada
25 Feb 11
i am referring to tail docking that is done at a later age and neutering on most of my animals are done at 2 months of age before the testicals have even dropped. Neutering is not done because owners can not keep there dogs on a leash. Neutering your animal prevents many forms of cancer in the future, prevents a number of aggression and behavioral issues as well as unnecessary marking behavior. I have seen full grown male dogs take down a solid 8 foot wooden fence because of a female dog in-season. this has nothing to do with the owner not keeping the dog on a leash as the dog was in a fully fenced and secure backyard (rather then tied up -which is a whole different argument)with no problems prior to the nabours moving in with a female in-season
@ADA101 (1)
•
25 Feb 11
Is it free treatment that you get at the Humane Society as I guess that would be a very good reason for them not to perform an unnecessary cosmetic operation on charitable monies?
Why do people always assume that it's tails that get injured when paws and legs are much more likely to be injured?
Unfortunate,ly spaying and neutering currently is the only answer to trying to keep the vast rescue problem under control. In an ideal world of responsible owners it would not be necessary.
@dogsnme (1264)
• United States
21 Feb 11
I'm not going to get into a debate about what is and isn't humane treatment of dogs or any other animal. Everyone has their own opinions about it. I do see the benefit of having a dog or cat spayed or neutered but I'll go no further on that. As far as the argument in favor of cutting off a dog's tail for safety reasons, I find that to be extreme. I have four dogs, all medium sized and energetic, and I've never once had either of them injure their tails. They stay indoors 95% of the time and sometimes get rather playful and rowdy. I've actually never heard of that reasoning for cutting off a dog's tail until now. Nor have I ever heard of a dog's tail being injured due to being indoors all the time. I believe that's going way too far to prevent an injury that rarely if ever happens.
