Question: I recently was at a mom-and-pop store on Keeaumoku Street when a woman walked in with her cute, white terrier. This puppy’s eyebrow area was shaven and seemed to have human-shaped eyebrows tattooed above its eyes. I found this to be very disturbing. Would this be considered cruelty? I know socially, it would be unacceptable to most. I suspect, as with most issues pertaining to animals, that nothing can be done.

Answer: Cosmetic tattoos on animals generally are not condoned, but so far, only one state has enacted legislation against it.

Last year, New York passed a law prohibiting pet tattoos and piercings unless they are done for identification or medical reasons.

“The Hawaiian Humane Society supports the use of tattoos on animals if they serve a functional purpose and are done by a veterinarian,” said spokeswoman Christina Kam.

As an example, she said, tattoos are widely used to indicate if an animal is spayed or neutered and are sometimes used for identification.

ID tattoos also are commonly used in large animals, while tattoos sometimes are used to darken certain areas, usually under the nose or eyelids, as a protection against sun sensitivity, she said.

Otherwise, the Humane Society is “opposed to any unnecessary surgical procedures that are performed solely for cosmetic purposes,” Kam said.

The Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association also is opposed to this practice, as well as other more invasive procedures done by pet owners.

“Unfortunately, although we continue to try, legislators refuse to pass laws to prevent this type of thing,” said veterinarian Dr. Eric Ako, executive vice president of the HVMA.

The reality is that “legally, pets can only have indirect protection because they are considered possessions,” he said.

There are specific animal-cruelty laws in the Hawaii Revised Statutes, but “basically, owners can do anything to their own pets,” including “cosmetic procedures, even (procedures) surgical in nature, such as tail docking and dewclaw removal, (which) a veterinarian would not do,” Ako said.

“As a veterinary medical association, we believe that we should be moving into the 21st century and the old ways,” in which owners perform medical procedures themselves, are “a thing of the past,” he said.

He said there are stories about dog owners cropping the ears of their animals, as well as doing cesarean sections.

The latest issue the HVMA addressed was the cutting of tails and toes of young puppies.

“We proposed legislation to say that really should be done in a proper facility, not at home, with sterile instruments,” Ako said. “Common sense in our opinion. But legislators felt that they’ve been doing it for all those years, so just leave it alone.”

He also acknowledged opposition by some “show dog and pet store people” to the proposal.

“We still have a ways to go here,” Ako said. “Doesn’t mean we give up trying.”

Animal Cruelty

Under Section 711-1108.5 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, it is first-degree cruelty to animals if someone intentionally or knowingly “tortures, mutilates, or poisons or causes the torture, mutilation, or poisoning of any pet animal or equine animal resulting in serious bodily injury or death of the pet animal or equine animal” or “kills or attempts to kill any pet animal belonging to another person, without first obtaining legal authority or consent of the pet’s owner.”

However, “cropping or docking as customarily practiced” is allowed.

To see this and other animal cruelty laws, go to Chapter 711 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes on “Offenses Against Public Order”: 1.usa.gov/1dJVam6.

Mahalo

To the generous lady in a black Jetta ahead of me in the drive-thru lane at Starbucks Waipio who paid for my drinks. What a pleasant surprise. — Lori