In China, Cat Owners Are Getting Plastic Surgery to Make Their Pets Look Like Mickey Mouse 0 5

“The popularity of ‘Mickey ears’ is growing among pet owners in China, despite concerns that such plastic surgeries may be painful and risky,” reports the South China Morning Post.

Journalists from the publication noted photographs circulating on the Chinese social network Weibo, where owners share images of their pets after surgery. The trend was initiated by a veterinary clinic in the Beibei district of Chongqing in the southwest of the country. In its advertisement, the clinic urged owners to have such surgeries done on their animals by the Chinese New Year. The cost of the procedure is 300 yuan.

Dean of the Loving Care International Pet Medical Center in Beijing, Liu Yundong, told the South China Morning Post about the process of performing such surgeries. In the first stage, surgeons alter the shape of the animal's ears, after which they are positioned to stand upright. The process of securing the ears in this position can take up to two months.

Veterinarians are strongly opposed to such procedures, emphasizing that surgeries harm animals, causing them physical pain and psychological suffering.

“As veterinarians, we adhere to the principle of animal protection and do not support these surgeries. All my colleagues I have spoken to are against such interventions,” says Liu Yundong.

Veterinarian Yu Zhe published a petition online calling for an end to mutilating surgeries. “Cosmetic procedures that have no veterinary necessity must be stopped. They provide no benefit to the animal's health,” the petition states.

Journalists found that such surgeries are not performed in prestigious veterinary clinics in major cities. However, this type of plastic surgery can be done in breeding farms and centers. There are no legislative restrictions on performing such surgeries in the country.