i knew one woman with a rescued dog who would put an earing in her dogs ear, BUT it was an existing hole however she NEVER left it in for long, never unspervised and never around other dogs or babies because of the risk of tearing it out.
i see NOTHIGN wrong with her doing it for fun...
put peircing a dogs (or cat ears) for the simple purpose of putting stuff in it in my opinion i wouldnt say "cruel", but it is dangerous because theres always risk of getting it caught on something and ripped out.
now i dont have much problem with tattoos on pets WITHIN REASON when done right...
now let me explain.
dogs are often given tats for id-ing purposes, usually numbers...this is usually done while the dog is AWAKE with a special tattooing "gun" (it looks like a pen)
cosmetic tattoos as far as ive known are usually done during another procedure when the dog is already under (ie, a spay/neuter), again this has been MY experience. when done by an experienced artist its fairly quick, usually kept small and definatly a distinct Id tattoo...
this however is also assuming the tattoo is properly taken care of afterwards (which is the exact same healing process as a traditional number id tat) and again kept small and discrete.
the ONLY cosmetic tats ive seen have been done on tattoo artists dogs, done during spay/neuter, and done by GOOD artists, done in typical id-ing places (tummy, thigh or ear)
i do see a problem in this being done by none professionals, or without anesthesia or on animals under the care of an owner who does not, will not or cannot properly care for the tattoo...
but i also feel the same about people getting tattoos too lol.
if they are doing these cosmetic tats on none SAFELY sedated doge however, THAT is abuse...under anesthesia, not so much as long as its small and done correctly under surgical conditions.
when i worked for a vet, we had a tat artist bring in his pit for spay, and the vet agreed to let him cosmetic tat the dog, the vet and a tech was there to monitor the entire time, and i actually thought it looked lovely once done it was a very cute heart with a dove (traditional sailor style) about the size of a nickle on the inside of the dogs ear...
she had no problems during, no spikes no nothing, the vet was impressed, it looked very nice, and it healed perfectly in what the vet said was about the same time traditional id-tats take.