Unbelievable

[iradney]

To the story:

Back in the day when I was young and working in the CD store, I had my fair share of weird customers. However, I think this lady is in the top 3.

She comes up to the counter holding a wee little doggy. Maltese/Yorkie cross if my memory serves. Typical rich lady treating the pup like it's a kid - ribbon in the hair, little jersy, collar that looked jewellry like. But the thing that made me do a double take - she had gotten the dog's ear pierced??! There it was, plain as day. A little gold heart-shaped stud in the middle of the ear!

She as a customer wasn't too bad, she did have a slight attitude because *gasp* I took a few seconds to make sure her CD was in good condition. But piercing a dog's ear? What would possess someone to do that? All you need is for little Fluffykins to have one good scratch, and it'll get ripped out! Aren't dogs' ears highly sensitive? Why shove a metal bar through it? Holy cow!

[Gurndigarn]

Good thing it was fluffykins. If it had been growlybigdog, she would have lost a hand.

[iradney]

i cant really imagine, oh say a Rottweiler, with a dinky little gold stud in it's ear.


maybe a gangsta bling diamond type stud, but not a teeny stud.

[friendofjimmyk]

Wow, that really takes the cake for dressing your dog like a child. The poor pooch! I wonder, did she take the dog to the mall kiosk for that or did she do it herself at home? Did she not have any children and had to make up for this with her puppy!?

[AirHostess]

Poor puppy. And what a strange thing to do to your pet!

[iradney]

i would really hope she at least had it done in a shop, doing it yourself wouldn't work too well!

[Seanette]

I semi-jokingly refer to my pets (one cat, one bird) as "the kids", but piercing a pet's ears????? WHY????

[protege]

maybe a gangsta bling diamond type stud, but not a teeny stud.

Nah, if you're going for the "bling-bling" look, you need a gold-plated Cadillac crest (or Mercedes star) on a gold chain

[wagegoth]

Now I've got an image of a pit bull with a full gold and diamond grill in my head. Thanks a lot!

[Azalea]

I once found a cute little kitty outside the apartment I lived in at the time with a pierced ear. Johnny, as I later named him, couldn't have been any older than eight weeks. He obviously belonged to someone, but he became my kitty at that moment because no decent pet owner should do that to a kitten. And yes, the first thing I did when I brought him in was take that blasted earring out.

[Seshat]

there's a body mod site that has a section of pet piercings & tattoos..and I don't mean ID tattoos (I get my dogs tattooed by the vet for ID only when they're under being spayed or neutered, and that's just w/ their lifetime license number that's registered to me) but actual tattoos, the one showed a hello kitty and said it was done by a vet

Really don't get it, they can't ask for it to be done, it's painful

I may be getting my cat's ears tattooed, and if I do, I'll probably ask for something at least semi-artistic.

But the reason for the tattoos is medical: he's white, and we have to balance his happiness against his health. He LOVES being outside (we're in a quiet area and he's car-wise), but his ears sunburn. Our vet has heard of tattooing as a form of permanent sunblock, and is researching it. Once he knows what's involved and how viable it is, we'll be having a discussion of all the options....


I guess my point is that not all apparently-aesthetic things done to pets are aesthetically motivated. But I also acknowledge that the white boy's ears would be a rare counter-example.

[iradney]

tattoos and such for identification purposes, and in the case of your white kitty Seshat, there's no problem. but getting a dragon tattooed on a pitbull, or a tongue-ring for a chow is a little ludicrous! it's purely aesthetic, and painful enough for humans...how would it feel for Fido?

[AFpheonix]

Not to mention the possibility of infection on a pierced ear. My god, I can't even wear earrings anymore, they get so inflamed and pussy, no matter what karat of gold I put in. I can't even imagine on a pet that puts their head into god knows what. Gopher holes, if they're the doggies and kitties on the farm.