My Boycott of Marmaduke Movie and Mission to Save Great Danes from Ear Cropping

Could you honestly turn the puppy above, into the dog below? Could you stand by while someone cropped his ears simply to make them stand erect? No? Then help me to do something, please...

The current movie Marmaduke, opening in Australia on July 1st is a great starting point. I am boycotting this movie, dvd rental and sales, all merchandising, and any fast food tie ins because this beautiful animal has had his ears cropped.

We in Australia do not crop the ears of our great danes, neither is it common in Europe, where the breed originated, only in America do breeders habitually crop the ears of this beautiful, gentle breed. It is not done for any medical reason, it is simply aesthetic to make the dog look fiercer and more intelligent.

The American Kennel Club breed guidelines for the showing of pedigree great danes prohibits the showing of dogs that have had their tail docked, but allows for cropped ears. An animal that has not had its ears cropped can be shown but will be in the minority. If an animal has had its ears cropped but they are not nice and erect and matching, they will not be successful and will be useless except as a breeding animal or pet.... it will have gone through this pain and suffering for nothing!

If you ask me, all this pain and suffering is in vain. The animal is a beautiful, healthy animal as it arrives in this world and requires no alteration.

The most important thing you can do is contact the American Kennel Club and pressure them to prohibit the showing of dogs with cropped ears. I am currently trying various methods of contacting them via their website and facebook page. It is also essential to contact the Great Dane Club of America www.gdca.org and I will also be expanding from their to contact as many American breeders as possible to see whether they crop their dogs ears or not and whether they will help to extinguish this barbaric practice.

As for the movie, I am boycotting it which you can do too, I will be contacting as many of the people or companies below to explain the reason, otherwise they will just think their movie is a dud, and never know that this issue has hurt them financially and socially.

The film is being distributed by 20th Century Fox

The studio which produced the movie is listed as Regency Enterprises Davis Entertainment

The producer is John Davis, I hope he is contactable through the company above.

The director of the film is Tom Dey

Key actors in the movie include Owen Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland, and William H Macy.

I am currently working on finding the very best routes to contact the involved parties as of course they are not very accessible to mere mortals such as I. I will let you know of any very good email or web addresses I find, but of course the most important are the American Kennel Club and GDCA as they have direct influence over the cropping of ears.

The ASPCA would also be a good group to contact as they frequently run campaigns on key issues effecting the health and safety of animals in America. I am waiting for a response from them.

I would truly appreciate any involvement you can make, and assure you our dogs in Australia have the best of health and happiness with no ill effects from not having cropped ears, they are as God made them, and truly the greatest friends you can have.