Mickey Mouse is once again a trend in China, but this time with a sinister practice that consists of cutting off the ears of pets to round them so that they resemble those of the best-known mouse in history and indisputable symbol of the Disney factory.
This fashionable aesthetic operation is causing rejection among veterinarians and animal rights organizations, who consider that it is animal abuse and demand its prohibition due to the growing demand for this practice in the Asian giant.
It is common to see advertisements for this ear cropping, especially for cats, for a price of 300 yuan (38 euros) in some veterinary clinics, which promote the aesthetic operation as “Mickey ears” before the arrival of the Chinese New Year.
The operation, currently legal in China, consists of two phases: the first lasts half an hour, is performed under anesthesia and consists of surgically trimming the animal’s ears to round them, while the second consists of stylizing their shape to keep them erect.
Some veterinarians have already spoken out openly to warn of the impact of this practice on the physical and mental health of pets, from the risks of anesthesia to the possibility of animals developing self-injurious behavior due to pain.
For his part, the head of the Loving Care International veterinary center in Beijing, Liu Yudong, states that the procedure is rarely performed in veterinary clinics in larger cities, although it is done in breeding farms for “a moral issue.”
