Etsy and eBay remove sale of ‘harmful’ DIY dog ear cropping kits after pressure from animal welfare activists
- The British Veterinary Association is campaigning against dog ear cropping
- Several online retailers have been selling the kits to UK customers
- The BVA said cropping the ears of dogs is incredibly painful for the animals
Two online retailers have stopped selling DIY dog ear cropping and ear straightening kits following a campaign by British vets.
The British Veterinary Association wrote to Ebay and Etsy after they discovered the cruel kits available for sale from international retailers.
The BVA has been running a campaign to outlaw the practice and to educate pet owners that cropping or straightening the ears of their pets is cruel.
The British Veterinary Association has been running a campaign to stop the sale of DIY dog ear cropping kits as the procedure is painful for the animal and entirely unnecessary
BVA President Justine Shotton wrote the letter to express her members’ concerns ‘about the easy availability of ear straightening or correcting accessories’.
Dr Shotton said: ‘We took action after being made aware by a few vets about the availability of ear cropping kits on eBay UK. Our research also found a number of listings for ear straightening accessories being sold via several other major online websites.
‘The swift and positive action by the two major retailers is a small but significant animal welfare win for our #CutTheCrop campaign.
‘While the Government has promised action to close the legal loophole that allows cropped dogs to be brought into the country from abroad, the availability of such accessories online remains hard to tackle.’
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