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Posts Tagged ‘devocalize dogs’

Weigh in on Massachusetts’ new debarking bill?

Friday, July 23rd, 2010
8:36pm: at the barking dog with S
Image by Laurel Fan via Flickr

Have you ever had to listen to a dog bark for hours and not be able to do anything about it except cover your ears and try and shut it out?

Dogs that have a barking problem are annoying and frustrating and cause problems for their owners and the neighbors who have to listen to them.  Combat the problem, you can find all sorts of leashes, collars, books, experts and devices that are designed to discourage barking.

The solution of last resort has been to ‘debark’ the dog.  And what does it mean to debark a dog?  When a dog is debarked, aka devocalized, a veterinarian cuts the animals vocal cords so it can no longer bark.

Some people think this is inhumane and some feel debarking is theonly way some dogs can live in a community.

Starting this month dogs and cats in Massachusetts can breath easier because legislators have passed a bill that makes it illegal to devocalize a dog or cat.

You can read more here: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2010/07/20/law_bans_debarking_of_canines_and_cats/

As for me?  I weigh in on the side of the new law.  Debarking is inhumane, like having an annoying relative ‘silenced’ because they wouldn’t shut up.

That’s my view.  What’s yours?

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