Ear Cropping Laws in the State of Pennsylvania
In January 2009, the Pennsylvania House passed a bill addressing what proponents of the law call animal cruelty. This law was a knee-jerk reaction to the killing of 80 dogs by Ammon and Elmer Zimmerman, ranchers in Berks County, Pennsylvania. At the time, it was perfectly legal to kill your dog in Pennsylvania. Instead of tackling this problem, the House tackled the “cruelty problem”.
This so-called cruelty comes from docking the tails and dewclaws and clipping the ears of Dobermans, Boxers, Great Danes and any other dog that can be identified by these characteristics. These breed characteristics are what the American Kennel Club considers standard breed characteristics. In other words, when a Doberman is shown, the dog is expected to meet the required standards, including ears that stand upright, a docked tail, and no dewclaws.
You can certainly show a Doberman or other breed that is not clipped and clipped, but the dog will not be a very successful show champion. Winning dog shows is how breeders prove the value of their animals and maintain the integrity of the breed. Champion dogs guarantee the care and quality of the pedigrees. While the American Kennel Club adjusts its standards, this new law will cause much grief in the show ring.
The basis of the law states that every dog owner must be able to prove that ear cropping and dewclaw removal was performed by a veterinarian. So if you’re walking down the street and a humane society officer or animal cruelty officer sees your Doberman or Boxer with cropped ears and docked tails, you can get a court violation unless you have a certificate stating that the vet is made this work. If the harvest/dock was done before this law came into effect, you must show a certificate from your county treasurer stating so. In Pennsylvania, you must pay $1.00 for this certificate.
There are several problems with this new law. It is not clear how this will be done if you have a clipped/clipped dog that you have taken from a rescue center or shelter. There is unlikely to be any documentation available to show when the procedure was performed or if it was performed by a veterinarian. The law states that you will not be fined if tails and dewclaws are done within 5 days of birth. If an animal cruelty officer or humane society officer sees the puppy before it is cured, this is considered evidence of a violation of the law. If the breeder will do the tails and claws for dewing, records should be kept. The law does not specify what kind of record or what is required to be exonerated from a felony charge on a speedy record.
Instead of tackling the real issues, headline-grabbing and photo-seeking politicians have decided to go after innocent hobby breeders and non-commercial breeders. This is twisted politics at best. Unless you are a big breeder making a lot of money, there is no way you can continue to breed your dogs. This means that smaller, more private and less competitive breeders can no longer produce litters of these particular breeds. Good reputable breeders do not randomly decide which dog they want to breed. They get involved in breeding Dobermans, Boxers, Great Danes, German Pinschers and other mixed breeds because they truly love that particular dog and everything the breed stands for.
Many countries are passing similar legislation on this matter. This will eventually eliminate the smaller or hobby breeders altogether. This is really sad.
#Ear #Cropping #Laws #State #Pennsylvania