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Those who crop should ask their vet if they can take a video of the procedure. Breeders should have films to show all prospective puppy owners. It's a fact that ear cropping isn't being taught in most of the American veterinary colleges. These students go through years of training and come out not knowing how to crop ears. Unless they start practicing with a vet that already crops ears, they never will know. Thankfully, there are many vets in this country who refuse to crop ears, sometimes whole communities without a vet that crops. The majority of those vets who do crop do a horrible job! They seem to have three patterns: small, medium, large and those determine the amount to slice off the ears. They don't even take the one portion just chopped off and lay it over onto the other ear so that they get the ears cropped evenly. They have no concept of head sizes and shapes, whether to elongate, to shorten, to broaden...and the list goes on. Too many ears will either drop back over due to being too long or will sit there is short stubs that cause a freakish look for the rest of that dog's life., and will inhibit the dog's interactions with other dogs. Dogs communicate with each other using, among other methods, ears and tails, and ear cropping and tail docking affects these communication signals. Ear placements and tail presence are as much a part of a dog's ability to react to each other as are their eye contacts.

Far worse are those puppy mill owners who just whack off ears on baby puppies, whether pure breeds or mongrels. These results fill pet stores!

With a lack of apparent help from American organizations and associations, all humane and animal activists must try to initiate some type of action that will cause a halt in the USA to ear cropping. We have tried to provide names and locations, as available, to quote sources, and to cross reference to other animal areas. With aid from activists, breeders, pet owners, readers, humane friends of canines, legislators and other elected officials, concerned veterinarians, journalists, media experts, photographers, writers, teachers in classrooms, foreign canine colleagues and consultants, we can conquer this practice, state by state if necessary. It is no longer acceptable to pass the buck!

We ALL need to keep bringing the plight of vast numbers of affected puppies to the attention of legislators, puppy buyers, veterinarians, breeders, handlers...and keep the issue current with target "earmark" organizations! Write e-mails, send faxes, mail letters and postcards, make phone calls, go to dog shows and pet stores and express your feelings...such as Dr. R.G. Elmore, who wrote this letter to the "Tidbits" column of the Valley Breeze.