Increasingly, frantic dog owners — especially those with easily angered neighbors — are opting to surgically sever their yappy dogs' vocal cords, a controversial procedure known as "de-barking." Proponents say the operation, which leaves the pooch with a muffled or raspy bark, doesn't affect personality or mood. But critics, including animal-rights groups and many veterinarians, denounce de-barking as unnecessary, dangerous, and cruel. Is it ever acceptable to deprive dogs of the right to speak? (Watch a report about the new world's tallest dog)
Is this any worse than other ways we customize our dogs? De-barking "sounds horribly cruel," says John Homans in New York Magazine, but Americans "pick and choose features of their dogs the same way they like to order off the menu in restaurants." Who's to say de-barking is more cruel than, say, neutering your dog — which is "considered akin to mutilation" in Sweden?
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