I think in some cases they could help. I've heard they may help with ear infections. I've met a lot of big large breed dogs with the heavy floppy ears and a lot of them suffer a lot because of that.[/QUOTE]
That’s odd, my vet told me that the ear infections my dog suffers from is in part due to him having erect ears. I have never seen an article supporting medical reasons for having ears cropped. In fact, most dog alterations are now being penalized. That includes docked tails and cropped ears.
The common procedure being used is BYB doing it themselves, in very painful way, and not done in a sterile environment. They use floss, fishing line, butcher knives, etc. infections can cause long term damage to the tissue surrounding the area (whether ears or tails). Dogs ears first started being cropped when they were working dogs, and literally fighting bulls, bears, whatever target animal the owners wanted to take down. So they cropped ears to prevent the other animals from being able to latch on to the floppy ears and harm the animal.
There is no medical reason (other than extreme cases) for tail docking or ear cropping unless you are actually using the dog for its original purpose, and I doubt many people are using dogs to track down bulls and bears.
They are either fighting dogs, bait dogs, or being cropped to make them “look tougher.”
I could go on and on, but I won’t. It’s beating a dead horse, and I’m not going to change anyone’s opinions on an Internet forum. To each their own, but I will never condone the practice myself.
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Cropping and docking is part of many breed standards, if you want to show that dog and be a reputable breeder, you breed to standard.
