The Westminster Best in Show Winner Has Cropped Ears—and the Internet Is Outraged

On Tuesday night, a Doberman Pinscher named Penny won best in show at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Out of the 2,500 dogs and 200 breeds competing, Penny wowed the judges and managed to snag the top prize.

While we give major kudos to the distinguished Penny on her prize, her win is controversial and raises concerns about the event’s practices. Like last year’s winner, Monty, Penny has cropped ears and a docked tail — aesthetic practices that many experts believe to be unnecessary mutilation. Across the internet, commenters are speaking up.

“Beautiful dog, no doubt,” one Instagram commenter wrote on the official Westminster post. “But rewarding a Best in Show with cropped ears and docked tail directly contradicts the message against these practices and ultimately encourages exactly what is meant to be discouraged.”

“Time to change the standard,” another user wrote. “This dog would have grown up just as magnificent and smart and loving without being mutilated.”

Ear cropping and tail docking is illegal in many places outside the United States, with many international shows outright banning it. The Crufts Dog Show, which is run by the U.K.’s Kennel Club, is adamantly against the practice.

“Ear cropping is a barbaric practice,” they write on their website. “The Kennel Club has always been against ear cropping and banned dogs with cropped ears from our events over 100 years ago, so we are deeply concerned that this barbaric practice is becoming more widespread. We continue to work to support efforts to reduce the supply and demand for dogs with cropped ears in the U.K., educate owners about the health and welfare implications for these dogs, and support restrictions on the importing of dogs with cropped ears.”

However, docked tails and cropped ears are standard for American Kennel Club events. The organization defends their position, stating that the procedures “preserves a dog’s ability to perform its historic function,” such as hunting or herding. The AKC claims that the opposition to these practices “comes from a misunderstanding of why and how they are performed.”

In fact, AKC actually requires docked tails for certain breeds, including the Doberman Pinscher. In their description of the official standard for the Doberman Pinscher, the AKC says that the dogs’ tails should be “docked at approximately second joint, appears to be a continuation of the spine, and is carried only slightly above the horizontal when the dog is alert.” Ear cropping is optional, and many breeders and owners opt to have the procedure performed.

While the AKC insists that these procedure do not hurt animals, many experts — including Dr. Randall Cannon, a veterinarian who Kinship consulted on the topic last year — disagree. 

“[Ear cropping is] an amputation,” Dr. Cannon told Kinship. “The dogs are really going through hell. You have to suture the entire edge of the ear until it heals, which takes a couple weeks, but then, [to get the newly cut ears to stand up straight] stents are placed that go into the ears and the ears are then taped to train them to grow straight up.” 

Dr. Cannon also told Kinship that most of the time, tail docking is done without anesthesia, since it’s performed just days after a dog is born. “At three days of age, a dog could be the size of your palm, so you can’t get a tube down their throat to help them breathe,” Dr. Cannon said. “Instead, you put a hemostat clamp on the end of the tail and just cut it off.”

Though the AKC claims that these procedures are done in service of the breeds’ historical work functions, none of the shows include a practical segment demonstrating said functions. The standards are, instead, purely aesthetic — which means that they are arbitrary. Other dog shows around the world have banned the practice and adjusted their standards, and there is no reason for the American Kennel Club not to do the same.