Local vets say de-barking not a common procedure here

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Muskogee Phoenix

By Donna Hales
Phoenix Staff Writer


De-barking a dog does not appear to be a popular procedure for dogs in the area, local veterinarians said.

A local vet who de-barked and neutered a neighbor’s 10-week-old puppy he said he thought was a stray prompted the Phoenix to inquire about the practice.

Muskogee veterinarian Dr. John Beal said he might do one de-barking in three years. De-barking is a more common practice in California where there are a lot of “apartment dogs” and owners are threatened with legal action if their dogs bark, he said.

“It’s not as acceptable here,” he said.

Dr. David Helms of Muskogee said he’s never de-barked a dog.

“The subject’s never come up — nobody’s ever asked me to,” Helms said.

It would be rare if someone in this area would ask him to de-bark a dog, said Dr. Tim Synar of Muskogee. Behavior modification is the first choice, he said.

Synar said he often finds strays left at his home but that he has never de-barked one. He said he has made sure a stray animal left at his home is cared for if it is ill. But when he neuters dogs, it is usually at the request of individual pet owners or for PAWS, he said.

Helms said if a stray dog were left on his porch he’d certainly consider neutering it if it was an animal that needed to be adopted, but probably would not do so at 10 weeks.

Dr. Stacy Hubler of rural Warner said neutering and de-barking a stray dog would not be a normal practice for her — “especially the de-barking — I wouldn’t even perform that.”

Keeping a stray for a few days to see if anyone showed up to claim it would be normal for Dr. Larry Peters of Wagoner.

If no one claimed the stray, he’d try to find the pet a new owner, Peters said. He said he would neuter it only after finding the owner or an adoptive owner, and would not de-bark the animal.

Area vets talk about animal mortality rates

Area veterinarians shared the number of pet deaths they’ve experienced in their practices when the animals were brought in for routine procedures, like neutering, spaying, grooming, etc.

Synar said when he puts pets to sleep for neutering or spaying or other procedures: “I might expect to lose one out of 1,000. You’re going to lose some.

“I use a heart monitor, a pulse/oxygen monitor. You do the best you can. But still, some of them are going to die.”

Synar praised modern anesthesia as he pointed out respiratory equipment in his operating room. He was preparing to operate on a dog his technician — who Synar said in the human world was a blend of a physician’s assistant and a registered nurse — already had asleep.

Helms, too, said anesthesia for animals is far superior to what used to be available.

“We have the same anesthesia that is available to people,” Helms said.

He agreed losing more than one healthy pet out of 1,000 put under anesthesia would be unusual.

“It may not be that many,” Helms said.

Peters agreed, saying even to lose one or two dogs or cats out of 1,000 seemingly healthy pets put under anesthesia today would probably be a surprise.