You can call me naive but up until last week, I did not know about ear cropping of dogs. I left the Black sea region of Turkey thinking it was an age-old tradition specific to that area.
However, research on the internet revealed it is a worldwide issue and one that preyed on my mind deeply.
What prompted my interest in the subject? A dog called Karabas
I met him in the mountainous and remote region of Maçahel. He is a big dog, not over friendly but nothing to be scared off.
His fur was thick and he was bright and alert.
I took to him straight away, stroking him with unlimited affection, but he was more interested in the food his owner was dishing out.
I kept looking at Karabas because something was just not right.
I pondered for a few minutes and then realised.
WTF! He had no ears. The inner lobes were still there resembling an ugly mess but nothing else was.
We asked his owner what happened and the simple response was that he cut them off.
Inside my head, angry thoughts were running around of “why in the hell would you do that?”, however I politely smiled and asked.
The answer was simple.
Karabas is a working dog that roams mountains, full of wild animals and potential fights. A bear will rip his ears off with huge force and in quick time, causing unlimited injury. Sometimes bears also wander into the local villages looking for food and dogs are on guard.
All Over The World
When I returned to the Aegean coast,I learned many people already knew about this age-old tradition often happening in small villages of Turkey.
I needed to know more and read on the internet that it is infact, a world wide tradition. Now banned by many countries including Australia and the UK, the surprise comes to learn that in the United States it is not illegal.
All over the world, reasons for ear cropping a dog have varied from…
- Better hearing
- Preventing injury in working dogs
- Cosmetic surgery for dog shows and performances
- Limiting injury in organized fights with other dogs.
- At the same time as cropping ears, sometimes docking of the tail also takes place.
Ear Cropping Of Dogs in Turkey
There is no law in Turkey about ear cropping or docking of the tail. However, I had to stop worrying about Karabas. He looked in good health and was alert and active. I felt no threat from him and he seemed devoted to his owner.
At the end of the day, Turkey has far bigger problems when it comes to the welfare of dogs.
On the “supposed civilized” south and west coast, owners often dump dogs; they roam the streets in packs looking for food out of dustbins. On the odd occasion, I spot a dog with nasty diseases like mange. In some areas, people have been known to poison dogs with laced meat to get rid of them.
Karabas was happy and had an owner who loved him and thought he was doing right by the dog. So on this occasion, I have to turn a blind eye.
Sometimes you have to ignore traditions of your adopted country, no matter how wrong you think they are
Reader’s questions: What are your thoughts on the ear cropping of dogs?
. . balance and proportionality are hard when you are faced with obvious or culture induced perceptions of cruelty – whatever the species incl humans. Ear/tail docking for practical reasons has its origins in a different age when sensibilities were very different. Docking for cosmetic reasons, along with extremes of selective breeding are quite another.
I have seldom witnessed direct cruelty in this country – indifference? Yes!
Alan recently wrote about..A Stitch In Time . .
I agree, I seldom see open cruelty, maybe the odd thrown stone to chase off dogs from restaurants etc. but the stones are not aimed, just a deterrent.
Having witnessed the horrors in Thailand of street dogs starving and mangy and even dragging themselves around with paralysed back legs following road accidents the Turkish dogs are not badly treated.
In Turgutreis many businesses put out food and water for the dogs and on the whole they are in reasonable condition.
Ear cropping is not easy to take to someone with western sensitivities but the few dogs I have seen like this seem to be loved and well cared for by their owners. Hopefully, over time things will change as they did recently with tail docking in the UK.
David. Like you say if stones are thrown, they are more of a deterrent than aimed at the dogs. I have never been to Thailand but I like to think that the Turks would never let a dog drag themselves around after an injury. Karbas was a fully grown dog and I have not seen many dogs in Turkey with their ears cropped so maybe the trend is dying down
Natalie recently wrote about..Ear Cropping of Dogs – Ignoring An Age Old Tradition
A good summary Alan and a reminder that in a earlier era, priorities were different. I can ignore it in the case of working dogs like Karabas but like you, do not agree with it for selective breeding or cosmetic reasons.
Natalie recently wrote about..The Friendly Locals of Ani Village
Dobermans (doberpersons?) are the obvious example, the tails cropped to minimal stumps and ears “trimmed”. When we wanted a dobie puppy only a few years ago in UK, it was almost impossible to find a breeder who did not dock the tail. The alterations are aimed at limiting fighting injuries, and/or making the dog look like it’s ready to fight. Removing a tail also alters a dog’s natural gait so it looks aggressive just walking around. So commonplace is docking that it was until recently a standard for show dogs.
Personally, I like a breed that is not “interfered with”, either by extreme selective breeding or by surgery. So I love border collies, as close to natural as a dog can be. I regret having a dobie although our individual pet was lovely. I think if a tail is injured it may be removed, but that’s a kindness. Dogs don’t have a choice, so people must act in their best interests.
Deri recently wrote about..Floods
Hi Deri, Dobermans were mentioned a lot in the research but I am like you and prefer for breeds to be natural and not interfered with. Of course, if a tail is badly injured then it must be removed for the dogs health. Any dog owner should always put his dogs health first, it is like being a parent really.
Natalie recently wrote about..The Gallipoli Battle & Anzac Cove : A Poignant Reminder in Photos
Did you see dogs with large metal spiked collars? That also seemed cruel to me. Even though the spikes point outwards, it must be uncomfortable for the dog to rest his head. But it was pointed out to me that the spikes stop wolves from biting the dogs necks. Horses for courses I suppose.
BacktoBodrum recently wrote about..Agnus Castus
I never saw any dogs with spikes on their collars. I do remember seeing them on the streets of Nottingham though!! The owners I suspected were trying to make the dogs look aggressive.
Natalie recently wrote about..This Turkish Woman Is More Than 100 Years Old
I agree with you Natalie, there is so much worse happening to dogs in Turkey. I sat with one poor dog as it died after being poisoned. That was in a lovely resort on the Aegean coast. I’ll never forget it. The tourists complain about the dogs barking at night and the hotel owners have been known to put out poison.
Glad you agree Chris. At the end of the day, Karabas had a loving owner, he was well fed and looked after. Many dogs do not have that opportunity.
Natalie recently wrote about..Flower Passage and Istanbul Nostalgia – Portraits From The Past
Natalie, “neuter and return” routinely happens to cats and dogs in Ka?. The cats get one of their ears clipped, the dogs get a permanent ear tag. Dunno if doing that is humane or if it measures at all on the cruelty scale. In the “West” people tend to take it for granted that if a creature is soft and cuddly they can be our “friends.” Otherwise they are squashed or eaten…
“You would be hard pressed, I would submit, to find a better pairing of occurrences to illustrate the divine and felonious nature of the human being—a species of organism that is capable of unpicking the deepest secrets of the heavens while at the same time pounding into extinction, for no purpose at all, a creature that never did us any harm and wasn’t even remotely capable of understanding what we were doing to it as we did it…I mention all this to make the point that if you were designing an organism to look after life in our lonely cosmos, to monitor where it is going and keep a record of where it has been, you wouldn’t choose human beings for the job.” –A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson
Ah yes, the neutering and returning discussion. We have it in Altinkum as well. Well some may ask what right do we have as humans to deny another species to reproduce however there is the aspect that we have urbanised many places and wild dogs in urban locations do not mix.
Never seen that quote before but it kind of hits the nail on the head really. A good way to sum up the human race
Natalie recently wrote about..Galata Tower and a 360-Degree View of Istanbul
When I went to Alanya with my sister for the first time in 2010, we found a dog down by the harbour.
We were having a sit down when he came over to us. I will never forget that poor dog. He was quite big and sandy coloured. He was very thin and he had bald patches on his fur. It was his demeanour and his sad face that got me the most.
He came over to us and just stood there, head down, allowing us to pet him. He didn’t show any of the usual canine signs of pleasure or excitement. There was no tail wagging from this dog. We were talking to him and stroking him, even though he was dirty and smelly, but he didn’t respond at all. Just stood there. looking desperately sad. He didn’t even look at us. There was nothing behind the eyes. They were dead.
The harbour was busy and lots of people passing by looked at us, holiday makers and Turkish people too. They looked amused and puzzled too, maybe thinking, urgh, why are they stroking that horrible dog.
We just wanted to show him a little bit of attention and affection, something that was undoubtedly in short supply in his life.
I’m afraid it didn’t create a very good impression of the area, that the authorities would allow this to happen. And I know this wasn’t the UK and things are different in Turkey, but this was Alanya, not a desperately poor little village.
As for cutting off a dog’s ears, I can’t agree with that, whatever the reason. Maybe if it had been done in a clinical environment, by a qualified vet, with anaesthetic, it might have been tolerable. But I doubt that was the case and I dread to think how much pain it might have caused the poor dog.
Thanks for telling me your experience Chris. I thought Alanya had a dogs shelter where dogs like that can be cared for and nursed back to good health. It is no life to be like that and the bold patches might have been mange. I know places like Bodrum and Didim do have shelters that take care of dogs, maybe Alanya just needs to catch up with the times.