Full Title Name:  Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Equine Cosmetic Crimes and Other Tails of Woe

Many invasive procedures, including surgery, are performed on horses’ tails purely for cosmetic reasons. These procedures fall into a variety of categories from the arguably unethical to the undoubtedly criminal. Although criminal laws prohibiting certain cosmetic surgeries have been in existence for approximately one hundred years, they rarely have been enforced. This article reviews the current status of both American and international “anti-cosmetic” statutes, focusing on the constitutional problems that the current American statutes raise. The article proposes a model federal statute that is constitutionally sound, addresses all forms of cosmetic tail procedures, and provides a vehicle for enforcement.