The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-30
KENNEL CLUB ASKED
TO FORBID CROPPING
Question Will Re Brought Up
at Annual Meeting Next
Month.
NOT ALLOWED IN ENGLAND
King Edward VII. Was Leader
in Fight Against Cutting
Of Dogs Ears.

To crop or not 70 crop the care of dogs,
that Is the important question TO come
before the American Kennel Club at tho
quarterly meeting OF the delegates from
the speciality clubs in September. The
men who have brought. or are bringing
forward this matter. are Theodore Offer
man, John g. Bates. w. r. Patterson,
George Ellis, Tyler Morse and Theodore
Crane, all we'll known men in the Ameri-
can kennel world. They are DESTROYS that
cropping the ears of dogs should be-
stopped. and that no dog born on or af-
ter January 1. 1915. the ears Of which
have been cropped. shall be eligible for
competition at shows held under the rules
OF the A. X. c.
Should this proposition become the law
OF the ruling body in kennel affairs, sew /
erai popular breeds Of dogs will be In
some way affected. notably Boston ter
riers bull terriers, Manchester black and |
tan, and miniature terriers, Brussels grit |
fons. Yorkshire terriers. toy bull terriers.
and one of two other breeds, including |
pinechers, monkey pinschers. German box
ers and Great Danes The cropping OF |
all dogs Is against the law OF the land. |
and where ear cutting takes place, the
operation Is performed under cover ana |
! the dog Is not to be seen at shows or in |
public places until the cut cartilage OF
the ears has entirely healed. After the
cutting takes place, the ears are fixed up
| with cardboard or some other stT sur
| face which adheree TO one or both sides
| OF the ear, so that the remains OF the ear
| shall not crinkle, contract or bend. II -
hoped by the operator and the person in
| terested In the dog that It's ears shall
| stand upright. especially when the dog Is
| excited on noticing some object, .when ne
! naturally cocks his ears''-or what is
| left OF them When the operation is not a
successful one and the ears fall over on
! the sides this so-called bad carriage" is
| remedied by the adept, the owner or his
agent, by the use or application OF colo
dion. which makes a pretty fair imitation
OF what ought 10 have been good job
| and at the same time deCcives the unwary
| Judge, the public and often the woult be
purchaser, the last mentioned finding out
day or so after the show that the dogs
ears are not carried in the same position
that they were during the period Of the
exhibition 1t is fair to state that sew
eral persons who crop dogs ears perform
| the operation after they have given the
dog an anaesthetic or made an application
| 20 the ear which deadcns pain during the
operation.
To crop dog for fighting purposes IL
| n mistake and the greatest dog fighter OF
the Victorian period, Old Jem Goode. said
that the whole lug was beneficial TO the
oppressed dog. inasmuch as the dog with a
| hold on or near the ear would be chew
/ ing the leather OF the ear instead OF
penetrating the orihce OF the organ. which
would be the case II the cartilage OF the
ear had been removed
II has been a custom to round or
iron the ears of foxhounds. This prac-
tice is In great vogue at the present time
in England and hounds with ironed ears
lare allowed In competition at shows held
A., =
ting iron or steel is L shaped and tho long
! lower parts of the dropping ears of the
foXhound are stamped or with this in
strument The orlfice of the ear. how
ever. If left covered The reason for
ironing" hounds ears are twofold. In
the first place the ears are not So lac
Grated In thorn, bramble and gorse COW
erts when they are short, and the uni
form rounding on OF the ears of a pack
Of hounds makes them more even look
ing, and to have a lot OF foXhounds as
like one another as regiment OF soldiers
is certainly on" OF the ideals of the NJ.
+. II. Scientists say, however. that the
olfactory nerves of hound extend to the
tips OF the ears. II IL well known that
the long cared hounds. exemplifed in
the bloodhound. otter hound, basset
hound barrier, French hounds and real
old fashioned American foxhounds, are
particularly keen scented and that they
can pick up the scent of their quarry from
, the very action OF their ears trailing on
the ground. To iron such ears probably
would cut off to some extent a means OF
seeming and the stll long ears OF the
American foxhound may account for his
superior seeming powers under cold,
stony and bad conditions In this country
Cropping terriers always has been a
practice among understrappers in stables
and cockney dog dealers The former
would and will operate on cats IL there be
don al. thA ant
; "A black and tan terrier as to smarter
him up. SO to speak. Twenty-Five years
! ago all Irish terriers were cropped. and
! the best of their kind in America and
, England had their Tugs off and up like
i darts" That term was then used as
. one of the chief points Of the Irish ter
\ rier. and one Anglo American writer
: who now advocates the adoption of the
! non cropping proposition OF the 4. h
C.. in those times advanced the idea that
g Irish terriers should remain cropped.
Those dogs that have natural upright
ears have strong bristlelike hairs stick
ing up from the inside of the ears. anc
I these bayonetike hairs not only keep dir
I from going in but the inside of the eal
g snug and warm. Forgetting all these ex.
Z quiste arrangements OF nature the pres
. ent day exhibitor OF cropped Boston ter
Il riers bull terriers and others scissors
r and afterward shaves out the hair from
4 the inside Of the slips of ears and thu
u thoroughly exposes the poor dog to thu
d full blasts Of the wind and other slmila
!, discomforts, The hair inside OF the ear
n may be noticed In all cock or spoon earet
I animals especially In the case of tn
e earthgoinE species 1t IL certain that n
X terrier meant for serious work unde
d ground should be cropped. The ear helm
y exposed to falling earth would soon be
u disadvantage to the dog
" The practice Of cropping dogs has bee
p general on the Continent ~ Europe
e There the mutlation even extends L
~ Dalmatian dogs. For several years ea
l. cropping, with the exception OF round
ing hounds ears, has not been recognize
J. under the rules OF the English Kenn,
~ club, the first institution of its kline
u and with which the American Kenn,
W Club is now associated. If there WA
" one man more than another who ha
his way in stopping the useless mutilatio
OF dogs it was King Edward. who like
n dog as a companion when Prince c
:. Wales. He used his influence to sto
- cropping and the Kennel Club was NJ
a. slow to fall into line. II did not TAX
- long before all cropped dogs were barred