Dog ear cropping hotspot in England, RSPCA

Figures have revealed that Greater Manchester is an ‘ear cropping’ hotspot in England, with 64 dogs in the county being reported to have had their ears cropped in a cruel and unnecessary procedure.

New figures from the RSPCA show that dogs have had their ears cropped in the last three years.

The animal welfare charity is releasing the figures as part of its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign - to raise awareness about how to stop cruelty to animals for good - and to highlight the barbaric procedure which, in many cases, is carried out illegally in the UK solely for the aim of making the dog look “tough”.

The RSPCA has joined forces with Welsh charity Hope Rescue on the campaign which is aimed at reminding the public about the laws on cropped dogs and the welfare issues the procedure can cause pets.

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The data shows that, nationally, 1,191 reports of ear cropping have been made to the RSPCA since 2020.

Greater Manchester is number four in the top five ear cropping hotspots in England.

Dr Samantha Gaines, dog welfare expert at the RSPCA, said: “Ear cropping is a painful and unnecessary practice in which a dogs’ ears are removed or surgically altered and sadly many owners who do this do it because they think the look is glamorous or it makes their pet look tough.

“But it can be detrimental, in the short and long term, to their health, behaviour and welfare - they do not benefit from having it done, and the way it is illegally carried out in the UK - by people who are not vet professionals - is highly likely to lead them to suffer.”

These figures are likely to be an under representation of the actual number of dogs who are having their ears cropped as not all cases are reported to the RSPCA.

Despite it being illegal in the UK, there are social media accounts which promote the practice, and it is not illegal to import a dog with cropped ears into the country - making it harder to prove illegal cropping at home and leaving a loophole for owners to source dogs with cropped ears from abroad.

Samantha added: “We don’t want this cruel procedure - which is essentially dogs being mutilated for money - to be normalised. We are concerned that it is a growing fashion trend, and it needs to be stopped.”

The UK Government had pledged to ban the import of dogs with cropped ears as part of its Kept Animals Bill - but the bill was scrapped in May, prompting the RSPCA to urge Ministers to find a viable alternative plan to ban it as soon as possible.

The RSPCA is urging people to write to their MP to ask for an urgent change in cracking down on imports of dogs with cropped ears.

To find out more about the campaign, visit the Mutilated For Money campaign page.

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