You know life’s good in Australia, when worrying about your dog’s masculinity is an issue. I was surprised to learn that testicular implants for pets have been around for years.
This is definitely a case of more dollars than sense.
NO one is going to call Cooktown bull-terrier cross Apollo a sissy.
The macho mutt is the proud owner of a set of silicone testicles that, after desexing, have allowed him to keep at least the appearance of his manhood.
Apollo’s owner Sarah Martin parted with $270 to order the implants over the internet from the US.
And when the two-year-old was desexed, Cooktown visiting vet Rod
Gilbert popped in the “Neuticals” ensuring the pup remains all-boy on the outside.
Ms Martin insisted the solid silicone implants made little difference to Apollo.
“It was nothing to do with the dog, or if he’d miss them,” Ms Martin told The Cairns Post.
“I don’t think he knows the difference.
“It was just that I don’t like the look of it.”
But Ms Martin said the replacement testicles were about half the size of his original, real ones.
“You tell them the age and breed of dog but they obviously thought this kind of dog had smaller ones.”
The neuticals.com website proclaims 225,000 pets around the world, including cats, horses and cattle, sport the implants.
But Apollo, who loves to watch TV and cuddle with his 23-year-old owner, may be a trendsetter on his home patch.
“He’d be one of the first in the Far North to have it,” Mr Gilbert said.
“I haven’t implanted any in a dog before, my surgery hasn’t and I haven’t had anyone ask for it.
The implants were harmless, he added.
