Vets are issuing warnings about a “cruel” and “unnecessary” illegal dog trend that appears to be gaining popularity across the North West region.
Pet owners are being urged not to subject their dogs to the practice of having their ears cropped in light of shocking new statistics, reports Lancashire Live.
A survey carried out by the British Veterinary Association Voice of the Veterinary Profession has revealed that 77% of small animal vets in the North West have seen dogs with cropped ears in the last year.
The region’s figure is also well above the national average of 58%.
The practice of cropping dogs’ ears is illegal in the UK, but a loophole means that dogs with cropped ears can be imported if the procedure has been done outside the country. Many vets believe this may be a contributing factor as to why they’ve seen more dogs with cropped ears in the last twelve months than they have in previous years.
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Measures to close these loopholes were announced last month, with the government pledging to ban the import of dogs with cropped ears after a petition calling for action passed 100,000 signatures.
The issue was debated in Parliament this week (7 June 2021).
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Today we welcome a huge win for #AnimalWelfare as the Government introduces new legislation to crack down on: ➡️ puppy smuggling ➡️ import of dogs with cropped ears ➡️ keeping primates as pets …and other measures
Statistics reveal that nationally, the Doberman was the breed most commonly presented to vets with cropped ears.
American Bulldogs and Cane Corsos were the second and third most likely breeds to be seen.
Robin Hargreaves – a veterinarian from Stanley House Vets in Colne – has admitted that he has seen an increase in the “cruel” trend, and believes this may be a result of people lying about where the procedure took place, adding: “I have been in general practice seeing first opinion cases in the community for 35 years [but] until a very few years ago, I had never seen a dog with cropped ears, with the exception of photographs or foreign films.
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“Maybe three or four years ago, I began to see the odd dog with cropped ears that originated overseas [and] in a very short period of time, my practice began to see young animals with cropped ears.
“Their owners usually said they had acquired the dogs abroad, but we suspect they had done so purely to circumvent the law that prevents ear cropping at home.”
Mr Hargreaves says it’s “critical” that this activity is brought to the attention of the relevant authorities.
“Those involved here must be prosecuted and importation must be scrutinised and discouraged, [and] anyone claiming to be an animal lover should be exposed and shunned If they are propagating this cruel, unnecessary mutilation in the name of vanity,” he added.
77% of small animal vets in the North West have been presented with dogs with cropped ears in the last year / Credit: RSPCA
This sentiment is also echoed by James Russell – President of the British Veterinary Assossiation (BVA) – who added: “We are deeply concerned that vets have been seeing more dogs with cropped ears in their practices [as] ear cropping is illegal in the UK, so we have to question how it’s possible that so many vets have seen cropped dogs in the past year.
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“These shocking figures clearly show that urgent action is needed to curb this disturbing rise.
“We were delighted by the commitment made by Government last month to prohibit imports of dogs with cropped ears as well as rooting out illegal practice of this completely unnecessary and intensely painful mutilation in the UK.
“We are now urging them to bring these measures into play at the earliest possible opportunity.”
Featured Image – iStockphoto
UK News
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Tesco are introducing ‘VAR-style’ self-checkouts in the UK
Danny Jones
Many people think VAR has already gone too far and want it gone from football full stop, and we’re here to tell you that you’re a fool; your hopes are in vain, and the technology is only going to become more common as time goes on. Sorry.
So much so, in fact, that Tesco look are bringing in their own virtual referee into self-checkout systems in shops. You could say the ‘game’s gone…’
Of course, we’re being a bit flippant here, but if you have seen ‘VAR’ and ‘Tesco‘, you’re not seeing things: this is genuinely a thing that is being rolled out here in the UK, with video footage of the supermarket chain’s next self-checkout technology going viral online.
Thought you’d got away with sneaking an extra little something in the bag without paying? Think again.
— UB1UB2 West London (Southall) (@UB1UB2) May 28, 2025
We’ll admit, this was the first time we’d come across the technology, but as it turns out, the updated self-checkout service has been in place for a while.
Similar VAR checkouts have already been installed at other retailers, Sainsbury’s and ASDA, although some reports claim that while stores capture footage of shoppers to check if they’ve scanned all of their items, it is thought that not all of these self-service tills show a playback when an error is detected.
Although this particular speculation has sparked some uproar and debate online, many have quite rightly pointed out that CCTV records your movement in any given shop.
Regardless, it’s fair to say that aside from the obvious memes and people poking fun at the new system, many on social media have shared some pretty strong opinions on the matter.
Not that it matters much – it’s likely this will soon become increasingly the norm, with the likes of Sainsbury’s having already introduced barriers which require customers to scan their receipt in order to leave at branches such as the site on Regent Road Retail Park over in Salford.
As yet, it’s unclear how many of these new self-service tills are in operation and whether they are limited to larger supermarket locations of their Express convenience stores, but don’t be surprised if you come across one.
Put simply, if a barcode isn’t registered before being put on the scale and/or set aside to be packed away, the Tesco till will read: “The last item wasn’t scanned properly. Remove from bagging area and try again.”
Addressing these new VAR-style checkouts in an official statement, a company spokesperson said: “We are always looking at technology to make life easier for our customers.
“We have recently installed a new system at some stores which helps customers using self-service checkouts identify if an item has not been scanned properly, making the checkout process quicker and easier.”
What do you make of the new Tesco and their new VAR self-checkout technology?
Emily Sergeant -
9th June 2021 
