Jordan Banjo has responded to fans on Instagram who criticised him for getting a puppy with “cropped ears”.
The 27-year-old dancer showed off his new dog, Sergio, on Instagram this week.
The adorable pub went down a storm with Jordan’s fans, until some noticed something strange about his ears.
View this post on Instagram
Why did Instagram fans complain about Jordan Banjo’s dog?
Ear-cropping is considered a cruel practice by some because it is done to either make a puppy look “cuter” or more “aggressive”.
Jordan captioned his snap: “Please welcome the new addition to the Banjo clan SERGIO BANJO.
“Been a long time coming and it’s been a bit crazy having to wait for the right time and right things to fall into place but here we are!
“Still in the middle of training and got a while to go. Can’t believe how beautiful he is and shout out to Garry and the whole @ambassadorprotectiondogs team.
“They are incredible, make sure you’re following them to see how Serge gets on!”
What did Jordan say in response to fans?
Soon after posting the picture Jordan got an influx of messages from fans about Sergio’s ears.
He then took to Instagram Stories to respond.
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Jordan said: “I can’t pretend to have known all of the information on cropped ears, I don’t even want to pretend to be misinformed, to be blunt I didn’t even think about it in the first instance.
“So I didn’t get his ears cut. I didn’t even import him, first time I saw Sergio he was six months old. Genuinely I appreciate the messages. It upsets me to think that Sergio or any dog goes through this purely to look ‘cooler’.
“I turned the comments off because I started off getting comments. It was a shock because it hadn’t even come into my head. I saw Sergio, saw his temperament. How he is as a character and fell in love with him.
“Now I feel awful, really wish it wasn’t the case but now what do I do? I’m very rarely in the business of explaining myself but when I feel somethings [sic.] wrong I’ll hold my hands up!”
“Definitely wish his ears had been left but he’s my dog now.
“Thank you all for caring enough to say something and a lot of you in a very polite and educational way. I hope I make better choices in regards to Sergio in the future,” he added.
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