It can seem harmless enough, or even may not be noticed when a cartoon image of a schnauzer, or any dog, has cropped ears or a docked tail. Images like it are so common place, they quickly become normalised. People don’t even wonder about what is being depicted - which is a dog with half their ears and only stubs left of their tails after they have been removed.
The procedures are surgical, unnnecessary and in the UK, illegal. There are the slimmest of exceptions with tail docking, but everyone knows the handful of genuine reasons a tail might be docked by a vet is not the reason the majority are docked. While we acknowledge the rare occasion when a tail might require removal, we take a straightforward approach to this topic. We will not divert away from the bald fact that tail docking and ear cropping are unnecessary and cruel cosmetic procedures.
Image courtesy of Veterinary Surgeon, Cat the Vet
Schnauzerfest Patron, Cat The Vet has been a vocal advocate against the practice. With the above image of the young doberman puppy on her blog, she says, “This young pup will have to wear these stands and collar for months. It is painful, they can’t play or rub their face.”
For a long time we have not used images of docked or cropped dogs on any Schnauzerfest items or promotional material. We also do not accept donations of items like it for sale in our fundraising auctions, or raffles, or prizes or any other outlets. When we explain to donors why, the vast majority of people understand and appreciate learning the reasons and fully back our position. Occasionally someone doesn’t, believing we’re choosing a ‘world’s gone mad’ approach, and ‘it’s only a picture’.
We asked leading campaigners on this the Focus on Animal Law Group (FOAL) to explain why we all need to take this matter seriously and why, all of us should make better choices on this.
“We are so glad to hear of your support for the #FlopNotCrop campaign and also your recognition of the impact of marketing materials and images which normalise this cruelty. It is very refreshing to hear a body taking a considered and ethical approach to marketing.
The normalisation of any trend happens in several ways. Either high profile people create a trend by owning a particular product or companies include images of that trend in their marketing materials and merchandise. Normalisation does not happen over night. It is a gradual repetition of an image that makes it acceptable and consequently alters perception of "normal". Ultimately, the altered perception can evolve into an expectation. We have instances where people genuinely believe there are two types of a breed. One with natural floppy ears, the other with cropped ears.
Once the normalisation has happened, the desire to own or replicate that look, appears. You only have to look at the reactions on social media, when a high profile account posts an image of their cropped dog. Many of those comments will be "cute", "awesome", "adorable".
Over the last few years we are really pleased to see such dogs and accounts being openly questioned on the cruelty behind the look they are, effectively promoting.
We ask everyone, corporate or private to be aware of the images they use and post. Corporations particularly employ marketing companies who, frequently use stock images of dogs. We ask that, at the very least, those stock images should be compliant with the welfare standards we have set for dogs in the UK and when it comes to ears, the law is very clear, ear cropping is an illegal mutilation in the UK."
There you have it. We hope you will join us in never using images of dogs of any breed, not only schnauzers, without their full, natural ears and tails. And go a bit further and tell people what lies behind those images, whether the image is cartoon or of a real dog. When you see items for sale, do not buy, and do what you can to make this never be acceptable, nor seem ‘normal’ because it is not. It is animal cruelty.