B.C. should ban cosmetic surgeries for animals
The province should follow Quebec’s footsteps in ensuring the humane treatment of pets
Quebec passed a ban on cosmetic procedures on pets, and B.C. should do the same. (Suneet Gill)
In 17 months, Quebec will officially ban non-essential cosmetic surgeries for cats and dogs. This means procedures such as declawing, devocalization, tail docking, and ear cropping will be illegal under the province’s updated Animal Welfare and Safety Act.
In British Columbia, cosmetic ear cropping and tail docking are banned by the B.C. College of Veterinarians. While these bans allow the college to take disciplinary measures towards veterinarians who perform non-therapeutic cosmetic surgeries and be recommended for potential charges by the BC SPCA, they are not formally enforced in provincial law.
And B.C. should ban cosmetic surgeries, and not just for domestic animals.
Under B.C.’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the province does not recognize animals unnecessarily surgically altered or amputated as illegal procedures — and that needs to change. The Act needs to be updated to clearly outline the unique and historical threat non-therapeutic cosmetic surgeries have on animals.
Ear cropping and tail docking are two of the most common forms of cosmetic surgeries in animals, according to the Alberta Animal Health Resource. Their origins go back to the Roman Empire and 18th century England. According to Alberta Animal Health, tail docking was believed to prevent rabies with ear cropping used to protect boar-hunting Great Danes from injury. However, both explanations have been scientifically ungrounded.
Beyond the practice’s problematic origins, animal cosmetic surgeries are inherently cruel and inhumane. While human cosmetic procedures are conducted with an owner’s consent in hopes of making them happier about their pet’s appearance, animals are forced into the physical transformation purely for human satisfaction.
Cosmetic surgeries for animals can also lead to acute or chronic pain and the inability to practice normal behavioural functions.
Since cosmetic surgeries are a longstanding threat to animals, it is the government’s job to recognize this danger as it does with other forms of animal abuse.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act addresses many risks animals can be exposed to. For instance, in the first section, an animal is in distress if it is, in part, “not protected from excessive heat or cold,” or “abused or neglected.”
Although the act acknowledges different ways domestic animals are subjected to mistreatment, it needs to include forcing an unnecessary cosmetic procedure in its definition of a distressed animal. Forcing an animal through a non-therapeutic and irreversible physical transformation is its own form of violence and injury.
By identifying unnecessary cosmetic surgeries, the government could show British Columbians they understand diverse ways animals are endangered and are acting to prevent further abuse. B.C. needs to ensure all animals that are currently and potentially at-risk of cosmetic surgeries are protected.
Pet cosmetic surgeries go beyond declawing a cat or cropping the ears of a dog. Horses commonly undergo tail nicking, blocking, or limping the tail by injecting a substance like alcohol. This procedure is done primarily on horses for an aesthetic advantage in entertainment events, like the show ring.
Not only should the B.C. government enact a law banning cosmetic surgery for pets, they should also clarify that all animals must be off limits.
By following Quebec’s lead on this issue, B.C. would further demonstrate to the rest of Canada that the mistreatment of animals — in all its forms and nuances — should be taken seriously, while guaranteeing veterinarians continue to treat animal suffering, not inflict it.
