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Creativity and Cautionary Medicine
Apr. 10th, 2004 12:12 amThere are many reasons that I am opposed to the practice of ear-cropping. It's cruel, it's painful, and it's entirely medically unnecessary. It's often done by amateurs, without even the vaguest attempt at antisepsis or pain control. It leads, more often than not, to a prolonged series of complicated medical follow-up, severe ear infections, and if everything is not cared for perfectly, a dog that looks like it has curly-fries instead of ears. However, today I also discovered another dangerous side-effect of ear cropping. It can make your dog look like an utter dork, and can embarrass you copiously in front of medical professionals.
I do not do ear cropping, and I tend to stay as far away as possible from any related follow-up. However, somehow I wound up with an appointment this evening to recheck a dog that seemed to have a botched crop. The breeder had apparently had the dog's ears cropped before sale, and shipped it to the family with the ears coned, and some vague and non-specific follow-up instructions.
(A note for those not familiar with the process - ear cropping is the surgical amputation of most of a dog's external ears. After the surgery, the remaining cartilage is taped to padded sticks, called cones, which are stuck in the dog's ears. These cones need to be changed fairly frequently, and need to stay in for several weeks and sometimes months.)
Anyway, the puppy had apparently managed to un-cone his ears, eat the cones, pull out at least half of his stitches, and rub his ears raw. I was told, however, that the owner had managed to at least temporarily repair some of the damage at home. So I entered the room, only to find a rather smug-looking woman, a man hiding his face behind his hands, and a large dog crate with its front turned towards the wall. I introduced myself, and approached the crate, only to have the man step forward and entreat me not to look.
I explained that I would, eventually, need to examine the dog, but decided to get at least a little more history first. The wife explained most of what the nurse had already conveyed to me, but reassured me again that she had fixed the problem as well as she could herself. When I asked how, she mentioned that she was a nurse, and had used "stuff" she found around the house that seemed appropriate.
I couldn't stall any longer. In spite of the husband's demands that I at least promise not to laugh, I opened the crate, and was confronted with an utterly huge and utterly beautiful puppy. He had absolutely perfect markings, the most gorgeous blue eyes I had ever seen, the face of a champion.... and a pair of tampons strapped to his head and tied on with elastic-wrap that tied under his chin. It was adorable. It was also quite possibly the most un-macho thing I have ever seen in my life.
Under the impressively effective makeshift cones, unfortunately, the poor little fellow's ears were in rather poor shape, but I managed to at least temporarily fix things until a doctor with more experience in ritual mutilation can do a full repair. But not laughing was one of the hardest things I've done in a long time, and I was sorely tempted to take a picture first, just to hand out to owners considering getting their own dog's ears cropped....
I do not do ear cropping, and I tend to stay as far away as possible from any related follow-up. However, somehow I wound up with an appointment this evening to recheck a dog that seemed to have a botched crop. The breeder had apparently had the dog's ears cropped before sale, and shipped it to the family with the ears coned, and some vague and non-specific follow-up instructions.
(A note for those not familiar with the process - ear cropping is the surgical amputation of most of a dog's external ears. After the surgery, the remaining cartilage is taped to padded sticks, called cones, which are stuck in the dog's ears. These cones need to be changed fairly frequently, and need to stay in for several weeks and sometimes months.)
Anyway, the puppy had apparently managed to un-cone his ears, eat the cones, pull out at least half of his stitches, and rub his ears raw. I was told, however, that the owner had managed to at least temporarily repair some of the damage at home. So I entered the room, only to find a rather smug-looking woman, a man hiding his face behind his hands, and a large dog crate with its front turned towards the wall. I introduced myself, and approached the crate, only to have the man step forward and entreat me not to look.
I explained that I would, eventually, need to examine the dog, but decided to get at least a little more history first. The wife explained most of what the nurse had already conveyed to me, but reassured me again that she had fixed the problem as well as she could herself. When I asked how, she mentioned that she was a nurse, and had used "stuff" she found around the house that seemed appropriate.
I couldn't stall any longer. In spite of the husband's demands that I at least promise not to laugh, I opened the crate, and was confronted with an utterly huge and utterly beautiful puppy. He had absolutely perfect markings, the most gorgeous blue eyes I had ever seen, the face of a champion.... and a pair of tampons strapped to his head and tied on with elastic-wrap that tied under his chin. It was adorable. It was also quite possibly the most un-macho thing I have ever seen in my life.
Under the impressively effective makeshift cones, unfortunately, the poor little fellow's ears were in rather poor shape, but I managed to at least temporarily fix things until a doctor with more experience in ritual mutilation can do a full repair. But not laughing was one of the hardest things I've done in a long time, and I was sorely tempted to take a picture first, just to hand out to owners considering getting their own dog's ears cropped....
