The Canadian government prohibits the performance of some common cosmetic surgeries on some pets, and these decisions have already come into effect.
Indeed, the Canadian province of Quebec has begun to adopt new regulations for pet care in Quebec, and four dangerous surgeries have been prohibited, in addition to creating many other new requirements for pet care in the province.
Although Quebec's veterinarians had previously prohibited the removal of vocal cords, ear clipping, tail cutting, and declawing in cats, cosmetic surgical operations are now permissible.
Alexandra Jaquish, a contract veterinary nurse, sees the move as the culmination of years of animal campaigning, having authored a 2022 petition with over 21,600 signatures to end these operations.
"It's an amazing feeling, when I think about the scale of this, I mean we're talking about millions of animals that will never have to endure unnecessary suffering," Yakish said in a phone interview on Saturday.
Quebec's new standards go into effect next month, and Gaston Rioux, head of the Quebec Veterinarians Organization, says they formalize a general rejection of interprofessional practices.
"This movement is not unique to Quebec," he stated during an interview. "All over the world, this is the type of surgery that is prohibited and unwanted."
Currently, Ontario is the only Canadian jurisdiction that does not prohibit cat declawing. Kelsdonk, for his part, stated that cutting the vocal cords to stop canine barking, for example, is not considered particularly humanitarian because excessive barking is likely caused by anxiety or boredom. She noted that we are merely dealing with the symptoms, not the root cause of the problem.
