By David Wilcock Editor
Celebrity influencers have been accused of feeding the trade for ‘mutilated dogs’ by promoting the craze for cropped ears.
MP and vet Danny Chambers lashed out at people like Kendall Jenner and Joey Essex who have shown off their deformed pets on social media platforms like Instagram.
It came as his bill to close a loophole in the ban on it being done in Britain cleared the Commons on its way to becoming law.
The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill will make it illegal to bring dogs and cats under six months old into the UK, and older animals that already have their ears cropped or tails docked.
Cropping is illegal in UK but critics say unscrupulous traders are still carrying it out here before claiming they imported the animal from abroad in that condition, evading the ban.
Mr Chambers, the Lib Dem MP for Winchester, told MPs: ‘One reason that there is such an interest in dogs with cropped ears is that a lot of influencers on Instagram and other social media platforms pose with these dogs or show they have these new dogs with cropped ears.
‘Many people aren’t aware that this is a mutilation, they think it’s how the dogs’ ears normally look, and it drives a demand for dogs that look like this.’
Ear cropping is a painful process where a dog’s outer ears are removed altogether or are surgically altered, with the tips or huge sections of the outer ear being cut off.
The practice is illegal in England and Wales, under Section 5 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Multi-hyphenate Ms Jenner has posed pictures to her 287 million Instagram followers showing doberman Pyro in the US, where the process is legal, and even used him in promotional campaigns.
Other celebs who have posed with dock-eared dogs include The Only Way is Essex star Joey Essex.
In 2022 he was criticised after he took to social media to introduce his fans to a pet Dobermann puppy, writing: ‘newest member’. His reps declined to comment.
The previous year Rita Ora was criticised by PETA for featuring a dog with cropped ears in the video for her single Big, featuring David Guetta, Imanbek and Gunna.
In the mini-film, filmed in Bulgaria, the singer walks along a street before a masked extra is seen holding the pitbull by a lead.
Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock and former Newcastle footballer Andy Carroll and his wife, former TOWIE star Billi Mucklow have been criticised for showing off dogs with cropped ears.
Before the 2024 election Tory MP Selaine Saxby’s proposed legislation that would ban cropped dogs from being brought into the UK, but it was nixed when Rishi Sunak called the vote for July.
After the vote Mr Chambers said: ‘We are now one crucial step closer to closing the loopholes that allow that kind of animal abuse to happen in this country.
‘Mutilated animals can face horrendous injuries, infections, and psychological issues, which vets like myself see each and every day.
‘Even more worryingly, the illegal smuggling of puppies has long caused serious public health worries that dangerous diseases could be brought back into the UK.
‘This bill will curb those concerns – stamping out savage practices that endanger animals everywhere.
Labour MP Peter Lamb (Crawley) directly named Meta, which owns Facebook, as a company that publishes content featuring animal abuse, in the House of Commons.
He said: ‘There are far too many groups online which are dedicated to animal abuse. Constituents of mine have been involved in attempts to try and shut these groups down over the years.
‘They’ll also often find that instead of finding support on the part of social media companies, to try and address these problems, instead it is they who are reported and face their own accounts being shut down by those perpetrators.’
He added: ‘We cannot rest on our laurels and Meta must be made to answer for the fact that they are not acting to bring an end to animal abuse on their networks, and that they are profiting actively from the advertising which appears on that network, and advertisers must be aware that part of what they are paying for, when they pay to advertise on Facebook, is maintenance of animal abuse networks.’
Environment minister Emma Hardy said: ‘These measures represent a crucial step forward in our collective efforts to tackle the pet smuggling trade.’
Ms Hardy added: ‘We want to see fewer low-welfare operations supply pets to the GB market and fundamentally less animals to suffer because of this.’
She continued: ‘As set out in the Government’s manifesto, we are committed to ending puppy smuggling and delivering a better future for our animals and I am pleased to say that this Bill does just that.
‘It’s key measures deliver crucial recommendations put forward by the Efra (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) select committee and tackle multiple concerns that have been raised by stakeholders regarding loopholes in our current pet travel rules.