Cruel and Unusual Punishment: "Debarking" Your Dog
There was a very disturbing article on the front page of today’s New York Time about an increasingly popular practice of debarking dogs by people who live in urban areas like New York City. Debarking is accomplished by severing a dog’s vocal cords. The practice may be more widespread than reported because of nuisance pet policies imposed on apartment owners by co-op boards in the city. According to the article, the surgery usually leaves the animal with something between a wheeze and a squeak in lieu of a bark.
While I am not a card-carrying animal rights activist and find excessive barking annoying, I am a dog owner and a biologist who strongly believes in evolution. And, as far as I am concerned, if dogs weren’t meant to bark they wouldn’t! Taking away a dog’s only means of verbal communication (one of my dogs “whines” when she needs to go out and the doggy door is shut) is, in my opinion, detrimental to a dog’s physical and behavioral well being. As one animal behaviorist said in the article:
“Dogs are usually barking because of some frustration. It’s frustrating to be a sheepdog with no sheep. What I’d be concerned about is, if you are debarking a dog and it has an underlying happiness.”
Proponents of the procedure say that it is a harmless procedure and dogs that have been debarked don’t act any differently than they did before the operation. Luckily, many younger veterinarians have deemed that the surgery unnecessary and unethical and refuse to perform it.
My first experience with debarking was after I inadvertently purchased my two dogs from the daughter of a notorious and nefarious New Jersey-based puppy mill breeder. I learned that it is not uncommon among puppy mill owners, to silence their dogs to prevent detection by authorities by shoving metal rebar down their throats. The repeated assaults on a dog’s vocal cords caused scarring and sometimes rupture which, in turn, renders the animal unable to bark. Imagine my outrage when I read that some veterinarians knowingly and willingly perform this surgery because pet owners requested that it be done!
I think the practice of debarking is repugnant, reprehensible and not justified in any circumstances. If your dog has a barking problem, hire an animal behaviorist or call Cesar Milan, aka the Dog Whisperer. It is likely there is an underlying behavioral problem or cause of the problem that can be fixed by behavior modification or pharmacological interventions. Debarking surgery is a convenient and facile solution for pet owners who say they love their dogs but are unwilling to spend the time and effort required to solve the problems.
In conclusion, if dogs weren’t meant to bark then they would not have when they first appeared on the planet!!!
Until next time...
Good Luck and Don't Forget to Hug Your Puppy Today!!!!
Glad to see you post about this article because I had the same reaction when I read about veterinarians willingly de-barking their dogs. Shocked that the process is done so commonly. I have heard of puppy mills taking such atrocious measures - is there anyway to identify a puppy mill (and thus avoid them) when searching for a dog? Is there a certification process for more reputable breeders?
Know this is a bit off-topic but dogs are a very popular topic in this area!
I must be living in a cave, I'd never heard of this before. See below, the hippocratic oath for veterinarians:
"Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine,I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, the relief of animal suffering, the conservation of livestock resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.
I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.
I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence."
In my opinion, this Vet has crossed over from 'Hippocratic' to hipocrite.
I think the line of thinking which people begin upon to reach the conclusion that debarking surgery is a good thing, probably begins with neutering.
In neutering we have an example of surgically altering your pet in a way that has widespread acceptance and is largely viewed as a humane act which will minimize animal suffering down the line.
So people figure if we can make our lives better, and the animal's lives better with one form of surgery, why not another.
The problem with this train of thought is that if we follow it long enough, we `can get to a point where animals are treated as living pieces of meat and vivisection easily opted for in the name of convenience.
Sorry,but I don't agree with you.What would you say to people who HAVE taken their dog to trainers and tried every method out there? What if the county was going to seize their dog for having too many complaints made by neighbors? Then it would go to the pound and surely be put to sleep!
Don't you think in extreme cases it is better to give the dog the chance at life?
I truly hate people like you who fail to see any good in things that could potentially help other people just because you disagree with it.
I agree with annoymous
I have two barking dogs who cause distress to everyone in the house as well as the neighbors. I love my dogs and have tried everything. I am getting their barks softened next month by an experienced vet. I know a dog trainer who says many show dogs have this procedure and are not affected what so ever.
I had just rescued a beagle this weekend. She was from a puppy mill and I was heartbroken to find out that she had been crudely debarked. More needs to be done to prevent cruelty to innocent animals that cannot speak up for themselves.
Now a retired breeder of Miniature Pinschers, which I bred for over 15 years. My experience has been that the barking can be a genetic trait and usually is hereditary. I have seen it passed from mother to offspring numerous times. Throughout those 15 years, there is generally 1 percent that tend to be barkers.
To show Miniature Pinschers in the USA, to have a better chance at competing, ear cropping is expected and desired.
Having multiple dogs, and multiple complaints for noise from barking, I decided to de bark the worst offenders.
None of the dogs the Vet has debarked have ever aspirated. All act completely normal within waking up after the procedure. They act exactly the same, and show no indication of a life change. Within a few days, you would never know anything had changed, except by the sound of the bark.
Ear cropping and spays are different. They suffer for a few days to weeks, and I can say that most all have had personality changes because of the two latter procedures.
Dogs are not humans. As in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes", the thee legged dog did not pity itself. We are the ones that tend to put human emotions on our dogs. They are not humans, ask the Dog Whisperer!
I have spayed and neutered all my dogs before going to a new home, and the younger they are, the less discomfort occurs.
Ear cropping is tough. You are re wrapping and re wrapping an open wound and stitched non sedated area. Yes, it hurts them! Takes many many days to heal, whist most have a humiliating cone fastened to protect them from scratching that irritated healing cut on their ears.
So now (Still have a few), most my dogs have not had their ears cropped, and those who are in need of debarking for the sake of my neighbors (Where I live you can hear one of my dogs(non debarked) bark from over a mile away), are debarked.
My dogs can be themselves freely, without bothering the mile radius around us. Once debarked, I can still hear them if they need anything, but my neighbors are less wise and much happier(Min Pins are kept in an acre pen in the center of 20 acres).
If I thought debarking was cruel, it would not be something I would put my dogs through. Would equivocate it with piercing your ear, or nose, or? Never would traumatize them by taking them to the pound. Rescued many throughout the years, they were WAY more traumatized than my non traumatized debarked dog.
Dumping a dog is the most cruel thing, especially when they are older.
How would you like to be taken to a non English speaking foreign country, and dumped there with no money, no means to a phone, and no one understands you? And your LOST!