[cogman10]

I don't really understand this. Isn't it about as surgically invasive as getting a pet spayed?

Does the scent gland do anything more than just stinking? For a cat, removing the claws literally removes bones from them. It limits their mobility and hurts like hell.

(Not that I want a pet skunk. Just curious as to why it's unethical)

[underlipton]

>Does the scent gland do anything more than just stinking?

It's part of their communication system. There's no direct corollary in human qualia, but you might say it's akin to permanently destroying your ability to flirt or tell other people that something belongs to you. You would still experience the impulse, but not have the cognitive equipment to do so any longer. Removing scent glands destroys the physiological equipment, of course.

[IAmBroom]

That's a wildly stretched metaphor. Spraying a threat with a chemical weapon so powerful it will deter a hungry predator is not akin to winking at a cute girl or boy.

And if the scent gland is "part of their communication system", then a loaded 45 is part of a (domesticated, modern) human's.

[underlipton]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_gland

Skunks use their anal scent glands as a defensive weapon, yes, and it's thought that this is their primary use. However, until recently, it was also thought that skunks didn't scent mark at all. It turns out that they do, through body-rubbing, like cats. It stands to reason then that we might also be wrong about the functions of their anal glands, and that (as with most carnivores) they serve some sort of less-extreme communication function in addition to the last-resort defense. But threat displays are also part of a human's communication system, yes.

In any case, there are differing accounts as to whether removal affects the animal, and also whether it's even necessary to prevent spray incidents.

https://publish.illinois.edu/maxallen/files/2021/04/Jackson-...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Skunks/comments/fyxdsk/hello_i_have...

[TylerE]

I mean, you're removing part of a living animal for human convenience. If the ethical issue isn't obvious I don't know what to tell you.

The practice has been banned in the UK for almost 20 years, under the exact same laws as ban declawing cats. It's unnecessary mutilation with no medical justification.

[quickthrowman]

We neuter male cats so they don’t spray piss everywhere and spay female cats so they don’t go into heat and scream incessantly to be let outside.

Both procedures seem slightly more invasive than removing a scent gland in a skunk, given that it removes the sex organs that secrete hormones and changes their behavior for the rest of their life.

It’s possible that a skunk gets anxious when it tries to spray and nothing comes out, I can’t say I’m an expert in skunk behavior, it just seems less invasive than spaying or neutering to me.

[TylerE]

No, we neuter and spay so we are not overrun with feral cats. Not to control where they piss.

[NetMageSCW]

Then why neuter indoor cats?

[TylerE]

Do I really have to explain what you get when you have unfixed cats around? Hint: MORE CATS

[rkomorn]

Because an indoor cat can get out accidentally.

[cogman10]

We do a lot of bad things to animals for human convenience. Including forced breeding and raising them to be slaughtered.

The ethics is murky to me because I assume the procedure doesn't cause lasting pain and allows the animals to be pampered pets. The alternative is they are kept wild.

[TylerE]

There are plenty of quite happy non-descented skunks out there.

They don’t just go around spraying. It’s a defense mechanism - pretty much their only one as a matter of fact. Tame pets are very unlikely to spray anyone not trying to hurt them.