Living in San Francisco makes you feel like you’re in the center of the body art universe. There are piercings and tats on everyone (and you can assume everywhere based on what you can see). While personally I’m proud to remain tat and piercing free I understand that this is a personal decision and to each his (or her) own – except for my kids who better not even think about it until they’re at least 45 years old! But what about those who can’t make their own decisions – your pets? Well the State of New York has the answer…ban the cosmetic tattooing and piercing of pets. That’s right, on December 15th of 2014 Governor Cuomo signed a law banning the cosmetic tattooing and piercing of pets.
This got us thinking: how often are pets tattooed or pierced for cosmetic reasons (piercing and tattooing is often done for non-cosmetic reasons) and what prompted this legislation? The legislation was introduced by New York Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal in July 2011 (now we know how long it takes a bill to become law in New York – wonder if there is a School House Rock song for that?) after “hearing” about a women selling “gothic kittens” on the internet with piercings on the their necks and spines and a Brooklyn tattoo artist who tattooed his pit bull.
Given this lack of actual data, we’re still not sure how often the tattooing and piercing of pets happens. While we are certainly not defending this behavior, we do wonder if New York should have spent its legislative resources banning cropping ears and docking tails — which are still legal in the Empire State — and we know happens on a regular basis.
What do you think: Should New York stay out of it? Should the all cosmetic manipulation of pets be banned?
Thanks for reading!