Posted on 02/08/2005 4:09:56 PM PST by missyme
In a city where surgical enhancement is an industry, one official believes its time to curb the practice — on pets.
West Hollywood Mayor John Duran will ask city council members to approve legislation that will prohibit pet owners from engaging in "the cropping of animals' ears, docking of their tails, surgical procedures to silence them, defanging and other operations performed for 'noncurative' reasons," the Los Angeles Times reports.
West Hollywood has had a historic record of enacting progressive policies regarding the care and welfare of animals," City Councilman Jeffrey Prang, who is a co-sponsor of the measure, told the paper. If the ban sounds a bit too "progressive," remember that West Hollywood is the city that, four years ago, freed pets from the bondage of ownership by declaring they were merely in the custodial care of human "guardians."
This latest measure has a history, albeit several thousand miles away. A number of European countries have also introduced bans forbidding pet owners to have cosmetic surgery done on their pets.
The West Hollywood measure, if it survives, will be the first such ban in the U.S. Prang believes he's in the forefront of "public policy."
"We recognize we have an opportunity to provide leadership on public policy," he told the Times. "Somebody always has to be first. Animal welfare is something West Hollywood feels strongly about."
As you might imagine, longtime pet breeders disagree with what Duran says are the city's "core values," as they pertain to pet "guardianship."
Such procedures are "not cruel," Darla Dorr, a past president of the Los Angeles Doberman Pinscher Club who has bred the dogs for 40 years, told the Times. Following ear-clipping procedures, for example, as long as post-op care is good, "the puppies are racing around the house as if nothing's been done."
Just like movie stars
If they pass this, veterinarians in surrounding communities will see a definite upswing in their business. Absolutely nothing will be accomplished, other than to make the Hollyweird types "feel good".
Well, on one hand, I don't see anything wrong with this. After all, since when does a dog say "I want to look like Lassie! I need a tummy tuck!"
If anything, this is cruality to animals right here.
Another hit at the property rights of people.
I agree......it is cruelty and when was the last time you heard a pet say "I want to look like Joan Rivers"
You beat me by a few minutes.
For once I agree with something coming out of this region.
I'm against elective surgery on animals.
I would hate to see what the rest of Joan's old saggy body looks like by now.......
YIKES!!!!!!!!!!
What is it???????????
Well, the traffic in illicit East Hollywood animal-modification ought to benefit from this.
I had Zorro de-Clawed?
West Hollywood is Fairyland Fantasy...
And you wonder why we give you guys from CA a hard time occasionally.
They'd probably really love to hear what is done to turn a bull calf into that tasty, tender t-bone.
What's next? Make male infant circumcision illegal???
Probably not a good topic for me to get into. I learned more than I'd ever wanted to know about declawing after I adopted a declawed cat, who had problems associated with declawing.
"fix my nose please"
Could be worse... can you say Pelosi?
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