Would it be considered animal abuse if someone got 6 mares and turned them...

[Azureth 686]

The Mane Six? Say someone with a lot of money opened a ranch and adopted 6 Mares named each one after the Mane 6 and colored their coats, mane and tails adding cutie marks appropriately but otherwise paid someone else to do everything else required to take care of them, would it be considered animal abuse or would it be okay? And how much money would it take to do all that? A few hundred thousand? 

[Member Berry 1,217]

As long as they're using dye safe for horses then I'd say it's fine. I mean, the horses won't know or care why they're now pink. 

[PonyOfWar 126]

It's considered animal abuse to dye an animals fur, I have seen many stories of people getting arrested for dying pets sport team colors. For horses their are special dyes someone can get that is allowed. Black horses fur for example can lighten if left in the sun to long, they literally bleach. Therefore there is black horse dye that was created to help keep black horses black, usually race or show horses due to the need for aesthetics. I do not believe legal horse dye would come in those colors, so imma say yeah it would be considered abuse, unless of coruse they somehow do in which case it would be allowed.

 

Though money wise I imagine it's really expensive. A single horse is a lot of money much less 6, a person is required to have 1 acre of land per horse or it could be considered abuse for not having enough space. Then shoes, feed, saddles, the list goes on. They live a long time to so one must be prepared and able to manage them for years. This doesn't even take into account if they have cribbing issue, a health problem and a stable to shelter them.

 

I live in the horse capital of the USA and have taken several riding classes so I'm just speaking based on the knowledge I have picked up over the years.

Edited July 27, 2016 by PonyOfWar

[Azureth 686]

I definitely found Rainbow Dash!

 

Edited August 9, 2016 by Azureth

[AlbaTross 1,581]

I don't think dying an animal's fur is something I would consider doing. However, I have seen a few Applejacks around as her coat and mane colour can occur naturally.

[El Duderino 878]

That is absolutely animal abuse. Dying a mare to look like a cartoon character is not a good idea. Most dyes would be harmful to the animals. I guess there could be a way to do it without harming the mares, but you would need a dye that would be completely harmless to the animal, and honestly, that wouldn't get you out of hot water with any animal rights groups that catch wind of what you are doing. Even if it's not directly harming the animals, it would probably still classify as mistreatment of the animals.

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

It's not animal abuse if the dye is non-toxic. I've heard about people doing this without legal repercussions.

[Member Berry 1,217]

Somebody actually dyed their dog to look like Pikachu:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/03/outrage-over-dog-dyed-to-look-like-pikachu/

 

I don't know if I'm just being stupid but I don't see the problem. Human hair dye would be a bad/stupid idea but food colourings seem to be safe for dogs:

 

https://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/2013/08/dog-hair-dye.php

 

The dog has no idea it looks like Pikachu.

[cider float 2,536]

I feel like if I owned something as expensive as a pony I wouldn't want to mess it up like a full on dye on it's coat colors.

Somebody actually dyed their dog to look like Pikachu:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/03/outrage-over-dog-dyed-to-look-like-pikachu/

 

I don't know if I'm just being stupid but I don't see the problem. Human hair dye would be a bad/stupid idea but food colourings seem to be safe for dogs:

 

https://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/2013/08/dog-hair-dye.php

 

The dog has no idea it looks like Pikachu.

Not going to lie the Pikachu dog looked kind of messed up to me.

[Member Berry 1,217]

I feel like if I owned something as expensive as a pony I wouldn't want to mess it up like a full on dye on it's coat colors.

Not going to lie the Pikachu dog looked kind of messed up to me.

Yeah, I thought it was creepier than it was cute. 

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

Putting cats in dresses isnt considered animal abuse.... im pretty sure you can get away with a little hair dye.

[Foxy Socks 2,596]

Maybe depending on how it is done. I don't see a reason why though, despite wanting to spend a lot just to make them vaguely resemble them.

[Steve Piranha 28,851]

Why would people dye their horses with Mane6 colors anyway ? I don't think they'll become the cute big-eyed ponies we know and love

[cmarston1 5,952]

I am pretty sure that it would be.

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

It's no more abusive than some of the ridiculous lengths people go to when styling a dog's hair, like those daft looking bobbly poodles.

[Tarnation 142]

I am pretty sure that it would be.

yep, i am preetty sure you're correct, but aj would come naturally   

[SunflowerPrincess 345]

I think it would be considered abuse, even if the dye is non-toxic and you'd take care of them. Especially because you'd do that just to have some real life expy for the mane 6. That would be like getting a cat and glueing a coin on its forehead to pretend it's a Meowth.

Anyway, you wouldn't need dye to get Applejack, since she kinda resemble a palomino horse.

[Choros Isorropai 409]

personaly if you realy wanted to get "real life mlp mane 6", and you have the money to blow on horses, ect...

go find a crazy nerd, or very skilled builder/fabricator, and have them make you a life size replica of each!

yes it would be expencive, but not as much as your idea, and if you realy wanted to get your moneys worth, go for animatronic AI!

 

much better than taking a living being and trying to replicate the origonals...btw the preportions would be WAY off...

[Corgis 574]

I was in the UK recently and found an add for a program on TV were somebody got a horse, lightly coloured it in pink and stuck a horn on it then called it a little pony.  Guess it's not animal abuse after all.

[cider float 2,536]

You can do what you want with any animal you purchased and you've taken care of but I wouldn't do such a thing to an expensive animal. If my neighbor did that I won't judge, I just won't support the idea.

Putting cats in dresses isnt considered animal abuse.... im pretty sure you can get away with a little hair dye.

I'd say dyes are different because you can't take them on and off though if the fur does grow out the dye can be somewhat cut out, still it's a bit long term compared to putting dresses on them. 

 

There's also the case of how animals have their own social standing when interacting with each other. Ponies might not interact much with other ponies outside of their pen so that might flow out better but if that was done to dogs or cats their social standing can get somewhat wonk when interacting with others of their kind.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

You can do what you want with any animal you purchased and you've taken care of but I wouldn't do such a thing to an expensive animal. If my neighbor did that I won't judge, I just won't support the idea.

I'd say dyes are different because you can't take them on and off though if the fur does grow out the dye can be somewhat cut out, still it's a bit long term compared to putting dresses on them. 

 

There's also the case of how animals have their own social standing when interacting with each other. Ponies might not interact much with other ponies outside of their pen so that might flow out better but if that was done to dogs or cats their social standing can get somewhat wonk when interacting with others of their kind.

 

True but it doesn't harm the animal..... Putting clothes on cats can cause undue stresses.

 

Horses have a very limited colour vision.... They only see shades of yellow, and grey/white/black, so dying a white horse bright pink would only make it look yellow to other horses, so its doubtful that there would  be a drastic change in social interactions due to this color change