Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis is backing away from a call to ban testicular implants for dogs.

The freshman Republican from Staten Island has been drafting a bill that would ban "non-medical cosmetic surgery" for dogs and cats, including tattoos, piercings and tummy tucks.

"It's just unnecessary," Malliotakis said. "To put a dog through that amounts to a form of animal cruelty."

But she was razzed by colleagues who say an earlier draft of the bill which was written to ban "neuticles," fake, silicone testicles that dogs sometimes get after they are fixed. This is apparently a thing.

Paul Marrone, Malliotakis' chief of staff, explained that the bill was revised when the office learned that most neuticles are inserted at the time of neutering; rarely is there a separate surgical procedure involved. Since their office could not find any evidence that they were harmful in and of themselves, the bill was amended to replace the neuticle prohibition with a ban on devocalization.

Malliotakis keeps two chihuahuas, Peanut and Olympia. Peanut, a male, is neutered. He does not have neuticles. She said she hopes the bill will be introduced in coming weeks, and brushed aside my question about a limited-government Republican trying to regulate pet tummy tucks.

"Government's role is to help not only vulnerable citizens, but those without a voice, defend themselves," she said. "That includes animals."

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