The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and The FOAL Group are calling on the government to take urgent legislative action as their joint ear-cropping petition surpassed 100,000 signatures online – fewer than two months after it was launched.
With this milestone, the call to end the trend of ear-cropping in dogs for good, has moved a step closer to a possible parliamentary debate.
The Petitions Committee considers all petitions that have crossed the 100,000 mark for debate in parliament.
In its written response to the petition last month, Defra had expressed its commitment to working with the #CutTheCrop and #FlopNotCrop campaign to close all legal loopholes that allow this practice of cropping ears to continue.
An Early Day Motion (EDM) has since been tabled in parliament by Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts, noting that ear-cropping is a ‘barbaric practice’, and calling on the government to ban the importation of dogs with cropped ears.
Public support for ear-cropping campaign
BVA senior vice-president Daniella Dos Santos said:
“It is fantastic to see the depth of public support for the campaign.
In recent years, vets and animal welfare charities in the UK have seen a dramatic increase in the number of dogs with cropped ears, marking a frightening trend towards the normalisation of a mutilation that is horrific, unnecessary, and rightfully illegal in this country.
“However, current legal loopholes allow the trend of importing ear-cropped dogs into the UK to continue, and also act as a smokescreen for illegal cropping taking place within the UK.” She concluded:
“We hope to see legislation on this issue soon. With less than a month to go to the Queen’s Speech, all eyes will now be on the government to see if it has taken note of how passionately people feel about calling time on this barbaric trend.”
The Early Day Motion on ear cropping of dogs can be viewed here.
