Why would a vet cut a dog's ears off?

Question

My family and I are adopting an American Pit Bull Terrier mix. I've done a lot of research on the breed and I'm familiar with the "cropping" of dogs' ears, but the newest addition to our family has had her ears almost completely removed. The Humane Society explained that it was done by a vet prior to the dog being left at the H.S. but they couldn't give a reason why a vet might do this.

I'm pretty good at guessing myself, but what I'm looking for are credible answers from legitimate sources, so if you're answer would be nothing more than speculation, please don't bother posting. Also, please state your sources. Thank you.

While I recognize the possibility that she was used for fighting, I don't see it as having much probability. She's still just a pup and not even full grown. She also has her full-length tail, which would have been removed by dog-fight enthusiasts if they were going through the trouble of removing her ears. She's also shown no aggresive tendencies toward the other dogs at the H.S. (thought that might not be saying much, I admit). Once again, I'm putting out a plea for credible answers with stated sources. Thank you.

Answer 1

I can do no more than guess or speculate myself, so instead I have a couple of suggestions for how you might be able to find out:

- Push the HS a bit to give you the name(s) of the veterinary practice(s) where they believe this may have been done. As the dog is now yours and this is part of her medical history, there's a good chance that the vet him/herself will tell you the reason.

- Pose the same question here: http://whosyadoggy.com/dogforum/index.php
...because there are some old time breeders who may have views (but possibly just guesses of course.)

I don't think that this is a standard medical procedure in any way, so a definitive "This is the reason in your dog's case" may be impossible for others to provide. So, if I were you I would tolerate a couple of guesses from experienced doggy people, to see if those trigger any additional insights - or, hopefully, tracking down the vet will solve it.

Good luck! (Now I'm curious too! :) )

Answer 2

The previous owners may not have cared for her cropped ears properly, and they might have gotten infected to the point where more needed to be cropped off.

Alot of people prefer the cropped look, but are unaware of the diligent aftercare to avoid infection or if taped/posted like a doberman, they tend to tape too tight and cut circculation off that could damage the ear. This would be cause for a "re-crop" making the ears shorter then usual.

Answer 3

It's very unlikely that a vet did this. An insensitive, irresponsible owner most certainly did. My sister adopted a pit bull from a rescue agency and then had to give him up because the city of Denver made them illegal without providing a grandfather clause for animals already within city limits. Laws like these are reactionary and cause a lot of anguish. It's owners like the kind who clip their dogs' ears for fighting that cause breeds to be demonized. Good luck with your doggie, and be extra good to her.

Answer 4

The only logical reasons I can think of to remove that much of the ear is if there were some type of injury to the ears (i.e. fighting) or if the ears got infected during the healing process and part of the tissue died or had to be removed. Unfortunately, there are also some very shady breeders who will attempt ear crops themselves typically with terrible results.

Answer 5

Chances are that a Vet did not completely remove this dog's ears. Generally dogs that are used as fight dogs have their ears removed and tails cropped off to keep the other dog from dragging them down by them in a fight.

Sounds like you have a former fighting dog.

Answer 6

Obviously I can't tell you for sure what happened to your dog, but I am willing to bet that the vet was a shady guy who messed up the ear cropping. A less likely reason would be cancerous tumors on the ear flaps that needed to be removed.

Answer 7

I knew someone who got a rescue dog (neopolitan mastiff) that also had no ears at all - it turned out that this dog had been rescued along with a load of others from a man who was breeding them in his cellar - they were all kept in cages very close together and this dogs ears got chewed to shreds through the bars and the vet couldn't repair them so he just removed them completely - she was fine though.

Answer 8

Was the dog's name, " Vincent Van Gogh"?