How Form/Function Connect Crop/Dock Via Citizen Science

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230 – April, 2025

By Dr. Carmen L. Battaglia 

Solving problems using Citizen Science is not new. It builds on a community of people who work together on topics of mutual interest. Traditional research was always considered the purview of the university. This belief effectively ruled out other kinds of good science and the motivation of others to become involved. Today, there are many Citizen Science projects that involve monitoring the Chesapeake Bay, astronomy, environmental science, climatology, hydrology, neuroscience and genetics. In the dog world, it shifts the restrictions imposed by laboratory controls and allows breeders to participate in dog studies like the Morris Animal Foundation that has been studying Golden Retrievers, and the Dog Aging project at Texas A&M. Other on-going studies are being used to shed light on problems of a specific interest. Citizen Science efforts can also mirror a successful concept used by the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation called the “Acorn Grant” . These are small seed grants (studies) designed to determine the viability of an approach to a specific subject or to a problem area. In this case, breeders and their clubs could use the Citizen Science approach to study how Form and Function might be interconnected with helping the growing problems of breeds that use Crop and Dock techniques.

Tails Docked – There are several breeds that dock tails. Some might be for aesthetic reasons and others for reasons that might center around issues involving the breed’s form and function. The problem for these breeders is that surgery could produce pain and suffering which leads others to argue that docking tails is not in the best interests of the dog or the breed.

Ears Cropped – Breeders of the Working and Herding breeds strive to increase the dog’s awareness, so for a number of reasons need dogs to have standing ears. Some are in order to improve the dog’s ability to know where game is and where a threat may unexpectedly come from. Sporting breeds all have down or hanging ears to protect their ears from pests and environmental hazards. They all rely on scent and vision to hunt and detect. This has led to the argument that ear cropping is not a fashion and is linked to a breed’s form and/or function. The problem for these breeders is that surgery involves anesthesia, which also has been connected to the concern that it could produce pain and suffering if not enough anesthesia is given during surgery.

Click here to read the complete article
230 – April, 2025

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Posted by AnthonyA on Apr 18 2025. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.