A cat at a pet store in Montreal on Aug. 8, 2019. New rules that bank cosmetic procedures for pets went into effect on Feb. 10.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Quebec is banning cosmetic surgeries on pets, including tail docking, devocalization, ear cropping and declawing “unless recommended by a veterinary surgeon for therapeutic reasons.”
The new regulation went into effect Saturday and aims to “establish standards for the custody and care of domestic companion animals and equines to ensure their welfare and safety.” It applies to horses, cats, dogs and other species of companion animals such as rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs and pigs.
“I think it’s great news,” said Caroline Kilsdonk, a bioethicist and former president of the Order of Veterinary Physicians of Quebec. “Surgeries that are not medically required should be avoided as much as possible.”
Apart from the ban on cosmetic surgeries, the new rules limit to 50 the number of cats or dogs kept in new breeding facilities, establish minimal standards for the exercise of dogs kept on leash, and ban euthanasia by inhalation, among other measures.
The new norms “will greatly improve the quality of life of our pets,” said André Lamontagne, Quebec’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in a news release Friday.
The news was welcomed by some pet owners in Montreal, including Emmie Nicholson, who owns two cats. She said she trims their nails herself but would not have them surgically declawed, as it was akin to torture. “It’s cruel,” she said.
Matias Contal, a dog owner, also questioned why anyone would tail dock and ear trim their pets, procedures he said he would never consider for his dog, Daisy.
Animal welfare advocates and experts, including societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, have long opposed cosmetic surgeries on pets.
On its website, the veterinary association says cosmetic alterations to an animal’s body for cosmetic or competitive purposes are “medically unnecessary and ethically unacceptable” because such procedures “carry the risk of unnecessary pain with the potential for chronic pain and other negative welfare outcomes.”
Tail docking and ear cropping in dogs, for example, “compromises the animal’s ability to communicate excitement, fear and aggression effectively with other animals and people.” Devocalization “does not address the underlying reason for the unwanted barking” in dogs and can result in “serious health and welfare consequences,” the association says.
Declawing, or partial digital amputation of cats, is “unacceptable as it offers no advantages to the feline” and “may lead to long-term negative consequences,” according to the association.
The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Humane Society says on its website that such cosmetic surgical procedures “impact, with varying severity and duration” animals’ welfare and behaviour.
The Order of Veterinary Physicians of Quebec adopted positions in 2020 and 2021 disapproving of devocalization, declawing, tail docking and ear cropping.
According to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association’s website, veterinarians in all provinces except Ontario were barred from performing cosmetic procedures such as tail docking and ear trimming as of 2020.
Declawing has also been prohibited in eight provinces as of 2022, making Ontario the only outlier now that the new rules have come into effect in Quebec. An anti-declawing bill was introduced in 2020 in Ontario but never made it into law.
Dr. Kilsdonk said because the new Quebec regulation states that “it is prohibited to perform or have performed” cosmetic surgeries, it means pet owners won’t be allowed to travel to Ontario to have it done on the other side of the border. She said she is confident Ontario will soon also move in the same direction and prohibit the procedures.
Ontario officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.