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(02:34) These dogs' first "owners" had them devocalized, then gave them up. Some vets perform this needless surgery even knowing the pain and suffering it causes.

Videos submitted by Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets (CPR Pets). Visit their website and also visit International Society for Animal Rights (ISAR) for more information about devocalization.

From Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets (CPR Pets):

Sometimes dogs and cats must undergo vocal cord surgery to treat a physical ailment causing medical harm, such as cancer. But when performed for the sole purpose of altering or removing the animal’s voice—called devocalization—this practice is widely considered an act of cruelty.

Devocalization has long been illegal throughout the UK and in most of Europe. In 2010, Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets led the successful campaign to ban it in Massachusetts.

There is good reason why:

Pain and Life-Threatening Risks, No Benefit

Devocalization subjects animals to pain and stress along with serious risks, from blood loss and infection to horrific death from choking, aspiration pneumonia or heat stroke. Helpless to refuse this unnecessary surgery, they receive no benefit, not even the assurance of a secure home.

Devocalized dogs and cats are given to shelters and rescue groups or are convenience euthanized for the same reasons as any other animal--or because the cost of treating complications of devocalization is prohibitive.

Some devocalized animals are sold without disclosure. The unsuspecting people who buy them may face a devastating choice they did not anticipate: euthanasia of a beloved pet or a substantial financial burden. That's because life-saving surgery to remove scar tissue which forms over the airway after devocalization can cost $2,000 or more, and may need to be repeated multiple times.