Woman Had Rods Inserted In Dogs' Throats To Stop Them From Barking

A pet owner was charged with animal abuse after she admitted to paying for rods to be shoved into her pet dogs’ vocal cords to stop them from barking, media reports said Saturday. Anne Beiler, 47, of Pennsylvania, hired vet Denise Felling to do the job because she was annoyed by the noise her two huskies made all the time.

The illegal procedure was performed in an outbuilding at Beiler’s home in Lancaster County. Media reports said that her two Doberman Pinschers were also savagely "debarked" by someone else. The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said that Beiler let the vet remove/cut the dogs' vocal chords by "shoving a rod-like object into the dogs’ vocal chambers. The manner of how she did the debarking procedures is illegal."

The incident, which took place last year, came to light after the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals workers seized 15 dogs from Beiler’s farm. An employee of the organization was alerted about the illegal procedures being carried out.

“These animals were debarked because it was a nuisance, and the inhumane manner in which the act was carried out can carry a felony charge," a release from the Pennsylvania SPCA quoted Nicole Wilson, the group's director of humane law enforcement, at the time.

The woman was barred from keeping animals after the cruelty acts, media reports said Saturday. Beiler pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges and was sentenced to two years’ probation. She was ordered to surrender all of the dogs.

During the search of her farm, animal welfare workers also found nine puppies who had their tails improperly docked, with rubber bands wrapped tightly around them, local media reports said, citing Iowa County Sheriff’s Office.

While Beiler did not receive any prison time during the sentencing last week, Felling — a former licensed veterinarian from Iowa who performed the procedures — was sentenced to 23 months in jail after pleading guilty to four counts of debarking dogs. The vet not only performed the surgery on Beiler's dogs but also on three others.

"Debarking, or devocalization, is an invasive surgical procedure that involves removing a large amount of laryngeal tissue. It involves a great deal of postoperative pain. Because this procedure is unnecessary and inherently cruel, many veterinarians condemn it and refuse to perform it," PETA wrote on its website about the procedure.

PETA also shared some tips on its website to deal with barking problems of a dog, rather than choosing "debarking as a solution."