Vets will debark dogs here, but I think they require some proof that the dog is a nuisance barker (noise abatement notice from the council, or similar) and that the owner has the choice of either debarking or disposing of the dog in question.

I don't understand am I missing something here?
As we know a dog barks to express its fear/excitement/anger,
Dogs as pack animals when removed from a litter bond with their human surrogate family and do not like being separated from them,
Some dogs express the anxiety of being separated by barking..though annoying to some people it is in my opinion
natural behaviour,
If you remove a dogs bark with an operation the anxious state of mind that prompted the dogs behaviour in the first place will still be there..you may pacify a few humans but do nothing to help the dog at all, surely some other solution like training or a dog sitter would be a better solution?
Continuing the subject of de-barking dogs, I noted the fact that anti depressant drugs had beed use to keep dogs quiet too. I was interested in finding out from a person who recommended the drugs what changes in behaviour or effects if any were noted in the dogs who were prescribed the drugs. I may be old fashioned but I would not wish to use mind altering drugs on dogs and wonder if anyone can tell me what possible advantage they can have over training and alternative non drug based methods of behavioural therapy and what side effects the drugs produce if any. I have read of adverse side effects, and have seen numerous cases of dreadful side effects in humans. I may be cynical but it concerns me that some drugs after receiving adverse publicity when given to human (and a drop in profits for their producers) are now being offered to the canine fraternity instead of treatments which carry no risk at all.

All I can say is thank goodness it's illegal in the UK............tail docking is bad enough - taking away a waggy tail, but to remove a dogs voice is barbaric!

Agree CC its just wrong

I don't think debarking a dog is illegal in the UK(more's the pity)

I asked my vet today and she said yes it is illegal in the UK, which is great news!

thats great news

...using drugs to keep dogs quiet is not though as I posted above see this link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/256487.stm

Thats just sick Even though Lola's being driving me up the wall this week with her barking she normally barks if it goes 1min past 6:30 which is the time I take her out in the morning, but the last week she has started at 4:00 I could never bring myself to do that to a dog.

Thanks god she's gone back to normal, I can only think she was getting confused as it was getting lighter earlier

Shelby was a rescue when she was 1 year of age. She had been crated for a year continuously (might as well say) before she was turned in to a shelter.

She was here for a week, spoiled (my fault) and began barking non-stop. By non-stop I mean that she would bark herself hoarse.

First was a trip to the vet to clear any medical problems, 2nd was a trip to the behaviorist who gave us some tips that we followed to the letter...from ignoring to praising on and on...3rd was a trip back to the behaviorist 3 months later (which were full of barking).

She then recommended an electric collar but advised to purchase the type with levels. We did this and shocked ourselves before we put it on her. The first shock was akin to zapping someone with your finger and a bit of static electricity.

She barked, the collar beeped, she ignored it, barked again and got the first level of shock. She never got shocked again. After 2 weeks she wore the collar without the battery and her barking was cured. The collar was used in conjunction with the behavioral methods we had learned and worked wonders.

Many people think the e collars are cruel, and they can be, but ours was used as an absolute last resort and only as long as needed. She wasn't seen by anyone because she was annoying as she's a dog and dog's bark but because she was making herself hoarse and would eventually vomit.

Anyway...I think there are many tools to go through before anyone would get there dog surgically debarked and I could only see it as a cure if there was some type of medical condition (which I can't think of).