Networks of dog breeders are allegedly offering to mutilate puppies’ ears as part of a trend made popular by celebrities on social media.
Influencers and sportspeople have posted images of dogs that have suffered cosmetic “ear cropping” to Facebook and Instagram in recent years.
The practice, which involves removing part of a puppy’s ear flap, is painful, unnecessary and illegal in Britain, but a BBC investigation found that breeders were offering to have puppies’ ears cut and supply false documents to make it look as though the mutilation occurred abroad.
Celebrities including Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United striker, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, the Little Mix pop star, and Jack Fincham, a former Love Island winner, have bought pets that appear to have undergone the procedure.
The three dogs either had the procedure abroad or came from rescue kennels and there is no suggestion of impropriety or cruelty by any of the celebrities.
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The broadcaster said its investigation found breeders offering the procedure for between £500 and £1,500.
One breeder, Moheiz Adam, told the undercover reporter that he believed it was a shame cropping was illegal as it gave dogs a “striking look”.
He offered to sell an undercover journalist an American bully puppy for £13,000, saying it would come with a pet passport and a microchip.
He said: “[Another man] just takes care of it, brings back the paperwork . . . if questions are asked you basically [say] that’s how you bought it, from an Irishman. It came from Europe and that’s all you know.
“All of my dogs have been done by him and let’s just say as long as you get it done at the right age, it looks ten out of ten.”
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Paula Boyden, from Dogs Trust, said there was “no justification at all” for the practice, and it could leave the dogs with health and behavioural issues.
“Some animals then go on to develop infections or don’t like people touching their ears,” she said. “We’ve also seen behaviour issues because dogs communicate with their ears, and without them they may have difficulty in doing that with their owners or other dogs.”
Fincham has made clear that he does not condone ear cropping and that he bought a rescue dog.
• Read more: French bulldogs suffer from unscrupulous breeding
During a video call, Adam held up the puppy and, referring to its ear, said: “That will all come off.”
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Adam later denied having arranged for any dogs to have the procedure because it is illegal but said that he would “like to have dogs’ ears removed”, the BBC said.
Another breeder, Joshua Harty, from Cardiff, told an undercover journalist that he, too, could arrange cropping and supply a foreign pet passport and microchip.
He said: “To get the ears and the passport and the chip is normally around £500 . . . my vet gets them from Turkey.
“I’ve taken dogs to shows in Ireland, Spain, and obviously I’ve had to cross borders, and I’ve taken these passports and I’ve got through every time. Never had a problem.”
Harty later declined to comment to the BBC.
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Daniella Dos Santos, former president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), told the broadcaster that she was “devastated” by what it had found.
She said: “Cropping of ears is an illegal mutilation done for no other reason than . . . cosmetic reasons and the whole conversation throughout has been about how these dogs look.
“It’s all for status. There are no health benefits to these dogs at all.”
She added: “The reason this is happening is because there is a loophole that allows the importation of dogs with cropped ears, and that’s just acting as a smokescreen clearly for it happening in the UK.”
