Mr. Conor Dowling:

Tail docking is an interesting comparison because the same legislation covers both procedures. There are regulations that permit tail docking in certain situations but it does not happen to any great extent because vets consider it an unethical procedure and generally do not perform it. While on the one hand we are seeing a reduction in the number of docked dogs, and it is becoming more normalised to see Jack Russells, Dobermans and all those sorts of breeds that traditionally would have been docked in the past with long tails, at the same time we are seeing a proliferation of dogs with cropped ears. A growing proportion of the population seems to have an interest in these dogs. It is not everybody who is involved in canine fertility or breeding but some people who just like the breed. Something to be aware of is that very often, whether the pups are cropped is the choice of the buyer. The pups will be offered for sale and if the buyer chooses to have them cropped, they will be cropped at ten weeks of age. The vast majority of the people involved in owning them are quite aware of this.

I use a photograph of a cropped dog in a presentation I do quite often and I ask people what is wrong with the dog. The dog is immaculate other than the missing ears and a lot of people will not spot it. In line with any education campaign we would have to address the deficiencies in the legislation because some people contact the ISPCA who say they have seen a Facebook profile of someone with dogs with cropped ears. We have to explain that this may well be the case but that it does not necessarily represent an offence under the legislation or that it certainly does not represent an offence that we can prove. Some of these have probably committed an offence but defining who is the difficult part of it.