Quebec's order of veterinarians bans pet cosmetic surgery

Veterinarians in Quebec will no longer be able to crop the tails or ears of pets for cosmetic purposes beginning in2017.

The province's order of veterinarians moved to prohibit certaincosmetic proceduresin late January a first for Quebec.

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Ear-cropping and tail-docking are already prohibited in seven provinces either by law or regulatory bylaws.

In Quebec, veterinarians will no longer be allowed to dock or cut the tailsofdogs, cattleand horses for cosmetic reasons.

The order also banned ear cropping for dogs and cats, stating that it goes against the principles of ensuring an animal's wellbeing.

'We'll just do it somewhere else'

The news wasn't well received by some breeders, who say pet owners may turn to the black market or go somewhere else to have it done.

Vital Berthelot, a breeder in Laval,says without cropped ears and docked tails, his miniature schnauzers won't be able to compete in places like the U.S., where the standard for the breed is still traditional.

But the Quebec order of veterinarians says docking tails and cropping ears can cause infections and chronic pain.

"Tail docking is actually an amputation. You're cutting off multiplevertebraewith all of the nerves and tissue around it," saidDr. Karen JoyGoldenberg,a veterinarian at thePierrefondsAnimal Hospital.

"Same idea for the ears.Cropping the ears, you're basically cutting half of the ear off with its cartilage, just to give the ear a specific shape."

The new lawis a stark contrast to Quebec's previous rules which mirrored those in Alberta and Ontario, where the decision on whether to operate is left up to individual animal doctorseven though veterinary groups in those provinces oppose such procedures in principle.