Do you think tattooing an animal should be considered animal abuse?

no, we do it as a choice; free will. They don’t. And it does hurt. I would never do that to an animal.
I also think animal branding is disgusting.

I do, however, color my Westie’s hair with Manic Panic. It’s safe for him. He currently has a blue mohawk and he rocks it!

So your answer is yes?
[scratches head]

A Westie with a blue mohawk!
That sounds really cute…I mean badass.

sorry, oops! Yes, it would be abuse to me.

And yeah, he is cute. He’s lucky he’s cute, cause he’s a terror! Naughtiest dog I ever had.

it’s absolutely abuse. I can’t imagine the pain those poor animals had! It’s so cruel. It actually makes me really sad.

If that is abuse, then anything we do to them is abuse—giving meds, spaying/neutering, any surgery, clipping nails. I’m sure most animals would rather not have those things happen.

@tiny: Those things are all to keep them healthy. When you clip their nails it doesn’t hurt them, and when they have surgery it doesn’t hurt them. When you jab them a few million times with lots of needles, it hurts them!

Pain is associated with surgery. Ever had one? And though I think those things are necessary, the animal, I’m sure, doesn’t. Plus, tattoos don’t hurt much. And there is no way we can know how animals experience pain. I just can’t call one abuse while excusing the other.

My point about the surgery should have been worded better… I know it hurts later.. I don’t know… I just think that if you’re inflicting pain on an animal that doesn’t result in making them healthier, or trying to keep them healthier, or trying to prevent them from mating (which also supposedly lengthens their lifespan)... it’s abuse. Aside from the fact that tattoos are sort of delicate until they’re healed… so you’re opening the animal up to a possible nasty infection… it just seems wrong to me.

Some people tattoo animals to identify them in case they are lost; this is done in “their best interest”. What about microchipping?

Yes.

I’m a tattooed vegan. So I like both tattoos and animals, but not together.

I would tatoo an animal I loved, ONLY for positive ID purposes.

What about having yours CHIPPED?

Mine are micro-chipped for their own safety. I was there when they did it…not a flinch.

@tiny: microchips serve a purpose. A tattoo is pain (and potential illness) inflicted with no use whatsoever. That’s my issue with it.

@poofandmook well said.

A tattoo can also be used for identification, as in the instance of cattle. I cannot call it abuse. Not feeding an animal, beating an animal, forcing an animal to fight, that is abuse. One of my cats screams when the vet gets anywhere near her. Anything I do for her health seems to be like torture to her. By your reasoning, I shouldn’t take her to her Cardiologist for her 6 month check-ups because it causes her trauma, or give her her meds, which she hates.

I think branding of cattle is disgusting. This is not the old west…there are no more wrangers.

No but they can get lost, and they are property, which people can steal. Do you eat meat? Because that is by far worse than branding.

@deaddolly: Trust me, there ARE wranglers.

Obviously, you have never been to TEXAS.

I don’t think tattooing is “abuse” as much as it is unnecessary because micro chipping is cheaper, less painful and it makes more sense. What I think is abuse is not spaying or neutering an animal as well as ear cropping a dog or declawing a cat.

@tiny: If there are less-invasive ways of identification, like microchips, or collars, or even a funny haircut/dye like deaddolly does, I don’t see the need to inflict a great deal of pain on an animal. The vet check-ups help save the pet’s life. So, to me, I consider it abuse. Hurting a cat and severely pissing it off are two different things.

that cat does not look happy.

But how do you know what the animal is experiencing? Another one of my cats is terrified of car rides, but she has to take them. I could be causing my cat major trauma and not even know about it. I guess my point is that anything we do without the animals’ “permission” can be construed as abusive, so I cannot call tattooing abuse.

No, but I’ll chase em, if I move to Austin. There’s gotta be another way to id cattle than burning their flesh.

You folks wanna talk about ABUSE? I’ll tell you about ABUSE…

It is when some fucking animal shelter puts a perfectly healthy dog or cat “to sleep,” PERMANENTLY, for no other reason than the fact that they just don’t want to care for the critter anymore.

When the head cunt at an animal shelter sent me a letter asking for a donation, I sent her a response that read, “Go fuck yourself with high speed chainsaw, Bitch!”

I signed my name to it, too! George Bush

Keep your shorts on, Jack (please). I agree. we’ve got no kill shelters here an I support those. It’s the stupid ppl not getting their dogs spayed and the damn puppy mills.

Don’t get me started.

Those “people” who murder healthy animals should be given a one-way ticket to Auschwitz

Then, they would find out what it REALLY feels like, to be victims of true brutality.

As should the puppy mill idiots. My little beagle is a puppy mill dog. When I adopted her in April, she was afraid to go thru a door, was afraid to eat, she didn’t know what a bone or a toy was. Her little feet were splayed from being in a cage for the 2 years of her life. They told me she’d probably never lick me. She’s on my lap now and licks me all the time. She’s a great dog! I wish they all could be saved.

i think the problem starts with people who let their pets reproduce without spaying/neutering them. also, there are a lot of amateur breeders out there, breeding their dogs and cats under the guise of “purebreds” and all they’re doing is populating an overpopulated shelter system. i have a friend who breeds siamese cats, a few litters a year, and i think it’s sad because there are tons and tons of stray cats, cats in shelters, unwanted cats—the world doesn’t need more dog and cat breeding.

You can do that?! Wow that is awful! I’m against dying their hair let alone tattooing!!!!!!

Yeah, that’s kinda messed up…

The only thing that I can think to make myself feel better, is that whoever did that will receive an awful punishment of some sort some time. It doesn’t have to be true, but I’ll focus my energy on that thought.

@Comedian I also find dying an animal’s hair/fur just disrespectful. As if the way nature made it wasn’t good enough for you. Some people just boggle my mind. I have seen these clowns/women walking in the park where I go running. They try to express themselves through an animal via a paint job. I mean come on. If they only knew how stupid they(meaning the human) looked to the rest of us. But no they won’t, because another clown will walk up to them and honk their nose, do a little jig and say “aww how cute”. Boggles my mind man…boggles it…

lol it’s isn’t ‘real’ hair dye and it’s safe for animals and even ppl like sundaybastard. it’s more of a color stain that wears off. Oliver loves the extra attention he gets. Disrespectful? lol It’s no different that putting on a fancy collar or a coat on your pet in the winter.
animals like to look good too.
I’m still laughing at your reaction…wonder if it’s a guy thing?

I think getting animals a tattoo is just wrong so yes i do think it is a form of animal abuse.

My dog has an ID number tattooed on her leg. A helpful use, no?

It is not abuse, a tattoo keeps an animal from being stolen for sale or meat and so saves them from abuse. Chips are ok but they are not visable and so not seen by others so they can report or comment. Chips do not have a complete national rescue org. You have to find the animal and then prove it has your chip with a wand in most cases.