Jan 23 2009No, No, No, We Don't Pierce The Kitties!

first

Awww poor kitties. I spose they 'don't mind' either

I read this in the news about 3 weeks ago. I think it's hilarious. No different than piercing your 18 onth old baby (like my parents did to me).
But really, I bet the cat doesn't even notice the difference.

I love pierced pussies!

Seriously, I don't see the difference between this and ear cropping or tail docking. Dog and cat-owners alike have sometimes opted to have the claws of their pets removed. I believe there are crazies that even have their dogs' vocal chords removed. As far as the animal looking ridiculous, the piercings certainly look far less homo than that faggoty sweater some force their Yorkshire Terrier to wear, or the Siamese Cat owner toting a pink Christian Dior pet carrier. However, I do believe that the piercings should be done by a licensed tech familiar with the anatomy of the animal they are piercing.

aw....no

stupid humans

"She defended herself saying that she did not see any difference between piercing a cat and piercing a human."

I'm pretty sure that the difference is that humans go to your parlor with willingly and want to get a piercing.

If we still condone straightening a boxers ears, or bobbing a dogs tail for simple aesthetic reasons, then I see no reason why a person can't give a piercing to an animal. It's the exact same thing.

Que enfermo no mames!

/agree with 4

I really dont see this as a big deal Im sure a lot of people would pay for that too and I doubt the animal really notices that much afters its done personally I think it looks kinda cool havent any of you see Cheshire cat from American Mcgees Alice

I really dont see this as a big deal Im sure a lot of people would pay for that too and I doubt the animal really notices that much afters its done personally I think it looks kinda cool havent any of you see Cheshire cat from American Mcgees Alice

unless the kittens spoke and expressed interest in getting pierced, I'm pretty sure it's animal cruelty.

but what about those people who pierce their babies' ears?

no big deal. she did it right, she did it well, it's a preference. i wouldn't want it but who cares what i want. who cares what she wants. it's not a danger to anyone.

this is hippie horse shit.

f*** peta.

I just cant see how it wouldn't bother the cats.. people dont constantly move and twitch their ears around zeroing in on things. But then again if it really is a gothic cat the only way to really hurt it would be to somehow stop it from writing it's sad poetry about dark dead trees and general winter bullshit, or to mention what a great relationship you had with your own father.

Of course there's a difference between piercing an animal and piercing a human. A human can... what was that again? Oh yeah, say no!

But were they spayed and neutered?

Ya, this is just madness. I have to say, though, that people who whine about ear cropping and tail docking should have their genitals pierced… with a sewing needle. It's not just for aesthetic reasons, #8, you will notice that there are no wild dogs in the world with big floppy ears (no wild animals at all that I can think of, actually). These dogs are very active and rough, and even a small injury to the ears can often lead to the whole thing having to be removed.

The vet tried to discourage me from docking my Dobeys' tails, because she said that this makes the dogs "slower and less maneuverable… honestly, if these dogs were any faster or more maneuverable than they are now, then heaven help the human race (particularly that segment of it that jumps over the wall into other people's yards at night).

Where's Daisy when you need him/her.

Here's Daisy.

earthlings

i hate earthlings

its a nice place to live, but i wouldn't want to visit

It's happening in America also - I was walking my dog in a park a couple weeks ago and saw a boxer with an eyebrow piercing. I wanted to punch the owner in the throat.

wtf????

If you live long enough you'll see it all...

Animal modification of any kind is ridiculous. Selective breeding has done enough damage; cropping, docking, piercing, etc is just adding insult to injury.

I agree with the pierced babies comments. What about livestock? They are branded, and wildlife is tagged all the time. If the other stuff is okay, then how can you ban this as long as the piercings are done in a sterile environment? You can't have it both ways, people. You can do all kinds of terrible things to fugly animals (cows, chickens etc) but soon as you make a precious little kitty sneeze you have PETA halfway up your balloon knot.

" you will notice that there are no wild dogs in the world with big floppy ears (no wild animals at all that I can think of, actually)"

What about elephants and rabbits?

Branding and tagging animals (regardless of the cruelty) is done for identification. Piercing animals is purely ego driven.

I hate to be the obnoxious vegetarian here, but why do you find something as minor as pet piercing to be so awful but the slaughter of millions of animals a year perfectly acceptable?

I'm sure you like your burger or steak or bacon or veal or whatever, but the scale of animal suffering between the two isn't even remotely comparable.

@26: Fair enough, but all the rabbits I've ever seen wear their ears neatly up and to the back, where they're out of the way. Elephants also wear their ears flush against the sides of their heads pretty much most of the time (unless they're trying to cool down or listen to something). Ever seen an uncropped Doberman that could lift his ears upright? Me neither.
@24: the long floppy ears on dogs were introduced by people through many generations of selective breeding. It's an undesirable characteristic for working dogs, and cropping corrects it.

Down back never, my young padawans.

@28: I take it you subsist entirely from food that you personally grow and harvest? Because, if not, your vegetarian lifestyle is contributing to the deaths of the millions of field animals which are killed annually by combine harvesters.

I own this page, bitches. I own this page.

I I'm just f***ing pissed that SHE got arrested yet people crop ears and tails of dogs all the goddamn time just for show and NO ONE EVER ARRESTS THEM!!!!!!!

@28 Who is eating wild geese?! Wildlife tagging is done for the good of the animals - so they can be tracked, etc. Other than the admiration and jealousy of the other cats, how does piercing benefit the kittens?

@30 - Where did I claim I was perfect? The point is, there are a millions of animals that are killed every day that don't need to be, so getting all up in arms over animal ear piercing is pretty absurd.

Also, it'd be pretty hard for me to survive without relying on farming. It's incredibly easy to not eat meat.

I still love pierced pussies!!!

this woman needs to be sentanced to "death by nailgun"

Cropping may have made since at one time, like affirmative action and unions, but now the dogs that get cropped are house dogs or show dogs. These dogs don't do anything that requires cropping. They lounge...it's hard to get your ears snagged in a large fluffy bed!

@33: Huh? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a problem with tagging wild geese, I have a problem with raising and killing millions of animals so people can have bacon. I thought that was pretty clear.

'My God... I've heard about this! Mexican cat juggling!'

@33: Ha ha, no worries—no flame intended (I'm stuck at work, and a shade pissed off because of it). I have to say, though, that I'd struggle to survive without eating meat… give me a steak that's rare enough for Pene Honey to be able to revive it, and my bliss counter goes through the roof…

OMG! I got a good laugh out of this. My girlfriend just gave her dog a green Mohawk. Maybe a good piercing is next.

@ 4 (and 34) YESSS!

Declawing, tail docking, having a cat euthanized for being a little f***er... all that shit happens on a very regular basis. Just because this is odd, doesn't make it any worse than the other things people do to their cats.

@37 - see 27.

Condemning cats piercing doesn't mean you condone eating meat or tagging wildlife.

and I'm off to make some cute lil fuzzy bunny stew.

While this is along the same lines of ear cropping, declawing, tail bobbing, etc. It doesn't make it right.
Sure the piercings probably don't bother them too much. But now the animals are more likely to be injured by catching the piercings on anything. These creatures are used to feeling every part of their bodies and using that as a guide to navigate everything. Not cool.

you can't pierce a cat's ears, but you can cut off a dog's tail. hmm..

Anita, you did pwn... *tear* I'm so proud of you today!!

I dont' know. At first I thought "No big deal, hippies freaking out again." But then I thought about my cats. One of them has hard-to-control earmites. I rub medicine into her ear (which would actually hurt with a piercing). But outside of that specific circumstance, cats (and dogs, though they aren't mentioned here) scratch their heads and ears with their hind legs. The hind legs aren't commonly declawed (as it's the front legs that ruin doorways) and the claws could catch the damned thing and rip it out. Studs might be a little better when compared to rings, but, still, you're asking for a disaster and a veterinary ER visit. It is, perhaps, a little irresponsible.

Now, I still eat my bacon and burgers, and probably wouldn't try and get the lady shut down or arrested, but I'm unlikely to buy such an animal from her. Let the market take care of it.

i think it looks cool, but seriously.
what the f*** lady?
the difference is, a human can say "no thanks" at least later in life they can take out their piercings.
cats dont have a say in the matter.
Lock that bitch up.

thumperchica is right. if you ever had a cat you have seen how they use their ears. they even move independently of each other (as in one ear could rotate left and the other stay facing forward). they wouldn't be as easy to use for the poor things with a big piece of metal through them. also, as stated before, they could get caught in something and tear the ears (or neck, or whatever part this sadistic chick has pierced).
in my opinion NO type of alteration should be done on an animal unless it beneficial, such as spaying and neutering.

First of all...f*** PETA!!

That said, one could argue that piercing animals is cruel because they have no say in the matter (although I'm sure 1 or 2 have given a her a nice scratch), but as stated many times on here what about human babies. Human adults are just plain cruel to everyone and everything, so unfortunately there is no shock here, just stupidity. Even more stupid though is the people buying these animals and encouraging her to keep doing it.

Thank you kindly *takes a bow* let's have a moment's silence…

.

.

.

Okay, moment's silence is over. Helloooo?

Anyone?

I'm going home.

ur all a buch of fagits

I love bacon.

@17. You just nailed this whole debate, and no one's giving you cred. You have it now. I probably shouldn’t even continue, but there are some things that need to be addressed.

@13 and 25: again, cred for the babies comments. I was 2 when my ears were pierced. I never said yes. In fact, all I remember is screaming.

@32, and all those discussing wildlife/livestock ID tags. : For the good of the animal? Wildlife and livestock tagging are both done for identification. Both of them are for the animal manager's convenience, not to help the animal. Wildlife tracking is often used to get hard data that can be extrapolated and used for large management decisions. For example, setting hunting tag limits and decisions on fatal culling of the herds. Not to mention fatalities caused by research stress (that means just the simple act of tranquilizing an animal to tag it can actually lead to its death). Researchers actually take stress mortality into account when they make a project proposal.

Livestock tags can only be cut out using a special tool, or simply by removing the ear (because the animal has been slaughtered). They are often made out of poly and only have metal piercing tips (that end up nestled in the backing of the tag anyways). Stainless steel is safer, and if you’re against cat piercing, please start advocating for stainless steel livestock tags, or research on effective, biologically-friendly temporary markings (like spray paint!).

@27: Now that pet piercing is available, who needs collars? Collars can lead to incidents of choking! Piercing is now equated with identification, and not just fashion.

Is it because these are visible that is it such a big deal? What about chip implants in the animal’s ear or neck?

I think it's all wrong!! Bobbing, weaving, slapping, tagging, flogging, nut flicking, rooping, tacking, harping, mopping, sacking, punting, lumping, etc. All that stuff is just *tear, sniff* wrong!! And I have two Prince Alberts with a swirling King Edward with a hanging Princess Peach attached!

54 - are you talking about animals or your sex life?

....AND I STILL LOVE PIERCED PUSSIES!!!!

@10 & 41 <3

@15: You're thinking Emo, not Goth.

Pussy piercings?

amazing, it's illegal to pierce or mutilate pet's but have a baby boy and it's completely legal to mutilate (circumcise) him, it's a messed up country we live in

if you think this is bad...check this out... not for the faint of heart....these cats are pierced and used as bait for sharks.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=431_1232680237

I just picked some cat outta my tires this morning. Nothing wrong with piercing one. We choose to eliminate their babymakers, so what's the ethical problem here? Must be some religious reasons...

I don't think the procedure itself is cruel. We do far worse things to animals, like removing body parts (my dogs are still crying at night for their nuts to come back).

However, most dogs and cats are active creatures that run under things and play with each other. During this playing, the earring could easily get ripped out.

Also, animals tend to not like foreign objects on them. That is why my dogs try to wriggle out of their jackets, and my lab tries to rip of her muzzle. By trying to get the earring off of them, they could rip it out. The pierced area could also get infected because dogs like to roll around on the ground.

While the person in the article does not have much common sense and probably shouldn't own any animals, I don't think she should have been arrested for it. She's a f***ing idiot for trying to sell gothic animals.

*yawn* going to a story from 2008 ? eww This news is over 3 months old heh

What's the difference between dogs with trimmed tails and ears, and fixing animals to begin with. They didn't ASK for it?
Why do breeders get to to whatever they want? Just because there's money to be made.
How many PETA members are breeders? Somebody find out and post please.

@57: An Emocat would like you to believe they he not have a good relationship with his father... goth cats don't get to go to art school like they do.

Id like to give her some non condoned piercings and she how she likes it.

Holy shit!!!! This is probably on of the coolest/f***ed up things I have ever seen. Yeah its cruel but so is dressing dogs up in f***ing hats and sweaters.

How is this any less humane than docking?

Seriously now, this is all well and good, what with the bickering, and the arguing, and the whining, and the would-be insults...

PETA?

Oh, you mean that organization that decides that since Darwinism stopped working, we should stop surviving altogether. Hm....no, I think not.

However, speaking for the general masses here who can't really sway one way or another on the issue, I'd like to go ahead and point out that there are even areas of 'scientific study' that incorporate, and have been doing so for some time now, cutting a hole into a cow's stomach and fitting it with a rubber cork, just so the local agri-science department can have a peek at the digestive process. I believe it was in an older post that I first saw this...anyhow.
Why raise so much of a commotion over such a trivial issue?

Where's a pissed off, oldschool Egyptian when I need one...

Nifty idea. And the fact that I have a sado-masochistic cat that has been spayed, who has an absolute fascination with all of my body piercings, I may consider looking into the idea in the near future. Unlikely, true, but still something interesting that may keep the little hellion feeling like a -diva-.
I use the term 'diva' because I feel as though I may not dote on my pets as much as most of PETA's members would advocate.

Although I did take Nermal and Scruffy out on a play-date last we---irrelevant!

So the moral of the rant/story is...

Who really objects to a pierced pussy? Those who can't pull the look off, obviously. Impetuous whelps.

Well folks, it's Friday night and I'm home alone with Pabst Blue Ribbon the Wonder Mutt while sipping on his name sake. I love my dog. In fact, I love all animals I don't find tasty or useless. I do not condone the amoral actions of this woman. No, I'm not talking about the piercings. I'm talking about her shameless attempt to make a quick buck. For shame. Also, I'm a bit surprised that PETA has had enough time to step of their high horse and actually pretend to care about domesticated pets. Their track record for this matter has not exactly been the greatest. See--> http://petakillsanimals.com/shockingphotos.cfm This is not the only case or publication about PETA's hypocrisy concerning the treatment of lost or abandoned animals. They will lie to your face about how the are going to find fluffy or rex a home, and then kill it and leave its corpse to rot in a dumpster. PETA lies. If you want to help animals, support your local SPCA, local no kill shelter, have your pet spayed or neutered, or just find something better than PETA. Thank you. Let the snarkiness begin.

@59 ::claps::

Those of you talking about the animal hurting themselves either by grooming or actively trying to remove the peircings are really forgetting a few points. Conditioning and self preservation. A kitten, or even a puppy, peirced at a young age will grown up conditioned to the presence of the peircing. Just like if you collar/leash train begining young, they'll run around with their collars and their studs all the time with no objection. (anyone who has ever said cats can't be leash trained never bothered to do it right - when they're a kitten).

Injury? I can personally attest that my cat has claws that can dice onions and julienne carrots, she's never been declawed. Amazingly she's never ripped her own delicately pointed almost translucent ear membranes by scratching them. She's never slashed her own throat trying to get off a new flea collar (and she hates them... for about an hour, then she spends the rest of the day sulking)

My point here is a cat conditioned to wear peircings is also highly unlikely to injure their own peircing. The first time they rub or scratch a peircing a just a tiny bit too roughly and it hurts - they'll adjust their behavior and groom that area more gently.

Egyptians peirced their cats. Zing!

Anyway, my position is I don't care that this woman was piercing kittens, my only concern would be the owners and whether or not they would be good owners about it, or just dumbf***s that only want one for the coolness factor. If peircing was for example something done only in a veterinarian's office, then there is at least that assurance that the owner has considered the decision and perhaps shows a vested interest in the cat's health future - versus an impulse buy in response to a trendy groomer's ad.

FAKE!!!!

This is a complete photoshop job. Yuo can tell its a fake because the shadow's are all wrong.

This is exactly like that scene in the movie Never Back Down where Max got injured forcingt him to give up hockey. He took up golf to save his grandmothers house, and got his ass kicked by bob barker.

I agree with the ones who said that cats are highly active creatures & would be likely to get their piercings ripped off while they were playing or hunting. Cats aren't capable of thinking "gee, I would love to chase that fat and sassy mouse, but what if I get my piercing caught on the edge of the china cabinet?" This is just cruel for the animals.

BTW, I'm shocked that PETA actually did something that made sense for a change. Usually they're too busy comparing chickens with slaves and trying to get breast milk flavored ice cream to actually worry about the well-being of household pets. Man, they keep this up and people might actually take them seriously for once.

This is far more humane than these abominations.

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/01/cows_with_holes_directly_to_th.php

And how is this all that different from bobbing tails and cropping ears? Hell, if you spay or neuter your pet you are doing something more extreme physically than this lady. Honestly, people freak out about the darnest things.

@ 65:................What? English....please.

@21: I think you mean "humans". Cats are earthlings too...unless you mean all species on the planet...then carry on. :p

anita bath-- go die.

Animal cruelty had nothing to do with it. PETA threw a fit because it was
"Goth piercing." If they had done it "Paris Hilton" style with little diamond stud earrings on a Chihuahua, people would be calling them "Princess Puppies" and you would see the service availble at every pet shop in town.

I think a fit would have been thrown either way, but peta don't want people to even OWN pets. It's no more cruelty than cropped ears or tails, the only issue is that it wasn't a kennel club approved dog modification.

ARRESTED? For piercing? Seriously? Thank god she didn't cut their nuts off - the cops probably would have shot her on sight. Oh wait...

the difference is that THEY DON'T HAVE A CHOICE, BLEEPING IDIOTIC WOMAN!!!! to think that she can still complain about losing business, IDIOT!!!

Holy shit! Are you serious?!?! PETA really got involved with this?!?! What the f***!?!?

First off, what on earth is wrong with piercing kittens? Don't try that nonsense about "they can't object" cause neither can babies, and people pierce infants' ears from birth!

Secondly, she wasn't neglecting or torturing them in any way or form! She took care of them and kept them healthy. Do you really think people would "buy" sickly kittens? Uh... I hope not.

Holy shit! Are you serious?!?! PETA really got involved with this?!?! What the f***!?!?

First off, what on earth is wrong with piercing kittens? Don't try that nonsense about "they can't object" cause neither can babies, and people pierce infants' ears from birth!

Secondly, she wasn't neglecting or torturing them in any way or form! She took care of them and kept them healthy. Do you really think people would "buy" sickly kittens? Uh... I hope not.

My roomies agree, they asked me to add that.... *snickers* Whatev.

Holy shit! Are you serious?!?! PETA really got involved with this?!?! What the f***!?!?

First off, what on earth is wrong with piercing kittens? Don't try that nonsense about "they can't object" cause neither can babies, and people pierce infants' ears from birth!

Secondly, she wasn't neglecting or torturing them in any way or form! She took care of them and kept them healthy. Do you really think people would "buy" sickly kittens? Uh... I hope not.

My roomies agree, they asked me to add that.... *snickers* Whatev.

This is old. These Goth cats have their own MySpace complete with shitty music.

http://groups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.groupProfile&groupID=105850052&MyToken=135bb2fc-3c9c-4fba-b44e-9c5b47082d32

f*** kittens

@87 LMAO...okay, that was funny as shit.

But seriously, Tokio Hotel is about as far away from Goth as you can get...

PETA was involved. Hence 0 credibility. Why are you even reporting this? Great debate though.

I don't know. The human ear tissue looks and feels a lot thicker than that of a cat or dogs ear. A piercing is a less annoyance to a human because they can't move their ears.

Usually when you come up with something so stupid you need to ask for a second opinion. Or even a third and forth.

I personally don't approve of pierced pets, it's inhumane, or should I say inanimane! does anybody feel me?

@Anthony, et. al.:
Most animal lovers find any type of surgical modification, particularly for aesthetics, abhorrent. I would agree with them.

I also agree with #42: because you condemn this, doesn't mean you condone other forms of animal torment. They're all equally bad.

@79: hey, coyote, do you think your mom and I could finish up before I do that? Gravelly old bag is into a lot of kinky stuff, but not necrophilia unfortunately.

I agree that this is the same as what dog breeders do (ear cropping etc, as others mentioned). But it doesn't make this right, BOTH are wrong and should stop.

People get there UNWILLING baby's ears pierced.....so whats tha problem?

I've seen tatooed dogs. And well, one of my dogs has the ears pierced by the other dogs.

I'd hit it.

I think that this is a little strange, but as long as you take care of the kitties piercing I don't really see anything wrong with it. I mean when I lived in Florida, they use to take stray cats off the street and spay or neuter them and then take a notch out of their ear so that they would know which cats had it done and which cats hadn't yet. Also, isn't it legal for farmers to pierce cows ears and pigs ears, while their still alive to tag them. And the tag in their ear doesn't seem to bother them...That has been going on for many many years.

@99 They tag the cows and pigs for a good reason. This isn't as good of a reason.