South Koreans are Now Giving Their Pets Botox and Plastic Surgery

August 12, 2015

Pet owners in South Korea, the plastic surgery capital of the world, are now having cosmetic procedures done on their pets so that they can be even cuter.

According to The Washington Post, 20% of women in South Korea have opted for “some form of cosmetic work” on themselves in the pursuit of beauty. Recently, the superficial trend has been moved over to dogs and various other pets who, as most of us know, don’t get a say in whatever becomes of them.

Plastic surgery on some pets isn’t unheard of. For specific breeds of dogs, for example, surgery has been necessary to reduce bacterial build-up and infection in skin folds or to alleviate breathing difficulties. Dr. Ann E. Hohenhaus, a veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in New York, told CBS News:

“If you had folds moved around in your skin we would call that plastic surgery. In the case of the dogs, it’s a medical necessity.”

However, the trend in South Korea appears to mostly be cosmetically driven. One unnamed veterinarian told the popular South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo:

“Plastic surgery for pets in the past were for medical reasons but the result also brought better looking dogs, so there is a growing customer base getting a plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons on their dogs.”

Another veterinarian, Dr. Toon, took it a step further, telling Chosun Ilbo that cosmetic surgery for dogs are “medically safe,” adding that it’s “the owner’s right” to make their pet beautiful.

Procedures done on pets include tail shortening, ear trimming to make them pointier, wrinkle straightening, fat and stretch mark removal, double eyelid surgery, fat removal and even botox.

But before you label South Korea as a cruel and plastic surgery-obsessed country, most South Koreans actually disapprove of the trend. According to the South Korean veterinarian magazine Daily Vet, the majority of Koreans, about 63%, said cosmetic surgery for pets should be banned.

We could be mistaken, but love for pets originates on the beauty inside, not the outside.

h/t: Kotaku

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