Huge Animal Hospital Network Bans Cosmetic Tail Docking, Ear Cropping, De-barking

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Banfield, the nation's largest veterinary practice with 730 hospitals and 2,000 veterinarians, including many in PetSmart stores, announced it will stop performing cosmetic tail docking, ear cropping, or devocalization (de-barking) of dogs. We applaud Banfield's humane move, tempered only by the question "what took you so long?"

Read the USA Today article here. Read the article from Veterinary Practice News here.

“After thoughtful consideration and reviewing medical research, we have determined it is in the best interest of the pets we treat, as well as the overall practice, to discontinue performing these unnecessary cosmetic procedures,” said Karen Faunt, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, vice president for medical quality advancement for Banfield. “It is our hope that this new medical protocol will help reduce, and eventually eliminate, these cosmetic procedures altogether.”

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recently rejected a resolution during its annual convention in Seattle, submitted by the Utah VMA, to weaken the AVMA policy opposing ear cropping and tail docking when done solely for cosmetic reasons.