UK online retailers remove ear cropping kits
"The swift and positive action by the two major retailers is a small but significant animal welfare win for our #CutTheCrop campaign" - Dr Justine Shotton.
'DIY' dog ear cropping and ear straightening kits have been removed from two major UK online retailers after the British Veterinary Association (BVA) raised concerns earlier this month.
Dr Justine Shotton, BVA President, wrote to eBay UK to flag listings for ear cropping kits sold on their website, and share veterinary and animal welfare concerns about the illegal practice of ear cropping.
Dr Shotton explained: “We took action after being made aware by a few vets about the availability of ear cropping kits on eBay UK.
“Our research also found a number of listings for ear straightening accessories being sold via several other major online websites.”
Etsy UK and Amazon UK were also contacted to share concerns about the availability of ear straightening or correcting accessories, which have the potential to compromise dogs' welfare.
Both eBay and Etsy took action to remove the kits after being contacted, and in its response, eBay promised to update its filters and algorithms globally to filter out ear cropping products. Amazon UK has not yet responded to the BVA's letter.
“The swift and positive action by the two major retailers is a small but significant animal welfare win for our #CutTheCrop campaign,” said Dr Shotton.
“While the Government has promised action to close the legal loophole that allows cropped dogs to be brought into the country from abroad, the availability of such accessories online remains hard to tackle.
“I’d encourage vets and members of the public to download and use our new template letter to raise concerns with retailers if they come across similar listings online in the future. Where such functionality exists, they may also use the websites’ online reporting mechanism to log a complaint.”
The BVA's template letter is available to download here.
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
