A cat is on display at a pet store in Montreal on August 8, 2019. New rules allowing banks to perform cosmetic procedures on pets will come into effect on February 10, 2024.Graham Hughes/Canadian Press
Quebec bans cosmetic surgeries on pets, such as tail docking, vocal removal, ear removal and nail removal, “unless recommended by a veterinarian for therapeutic reasons.”
The new regulations go into effect on Saturday and aim to “establish standards of management and care to ensure the welfare and safety of livestock and horses.” This applies to horses, cats, dogs, and other types of companion animals such as rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, and pigs.
“I think this is great news,” said Dr. Caroline Kirsdonk, a bioethicist and past president of the Quebec Veterinary Association. “Surgeries that are not medically necessary should be avoided whenever possible.”
In addition to banning cosmetic surgery, the new rules also limit the number of dogs and cats kept in new breeding facilities to 50, establish minimum standards for exercise for leashed dogs, and provide inhalation comfort. It includes the prohibition of death.
Quebec's Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Andre Lamontagne said in a news release Friday that the new standards “will significantly improve the quality of life for pets.”
Animal welfare advocates and experts, including the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), have long opposed cosmetic surgery on pets.
The CVMA states on its website that cosmetic modifications to an animal's body for cosmetics or competition purposes are “medically unnecessary and ethically unacceptable,” and that such procedures “cause chronic pain and other “It carries the risk of unnecessary pain that may have negative welfare consequences.''
For example, docking a dog's tail or ears “impairs the ability to effectively communicate excitement, fear, or aggression to other animals or humans.” The CVMA says that silence “does not address the underlying reason for unwanted barking” in dogs and can have “serious health and welfare implications.”
The association said declawing, or partial digit amputation, in cats is “unacceptable as it provides no benefit to the cat” and “may have long-term negative effects”.
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society says on its website that these cosmetic surgeries “impact the animal's welfare and behavior to varying degrees and duration.”
In 2020 and 2021, the Quebec Veterinary Association adopted an opinion that disallows vocal removal, declawing, tail docking, and ear docking.
As of 2020, veterinarians in all provinces except Ontario are prohibited from performing cosmetic procedures such as tail docking and ear cropping, according to the CVMA website.
As of 2022, eight provinces also have a ban on declawing, with Ontario the only outlier after Quebec's new rules go into effect. A bill to ban declawing was introduced in Ontario in 2020, but it was never passed into law.
Dr. Kirsdonk said Quebec's new regulations prohibit pet owners from “performing or having performed” cosmetic surgery, so pet owners may not be able to travel to Ontario to undergo surgery on the other side of the border. He said he would no longer be allowed to travel. He said he believes Ontario will soon follow in the same direction and ban the procedure.
Ontario officials did not respond to requests for comment.
