Outrage after tattoo artist Mistah Metro inked his sedated dog

ANIMAL rights groups have slammed a New York tattoo artist who reportedly tattooed his dog while it was getting an operation.

This is a photo reportedly taken by tattoo artist Mistah Metro, aka Orangatan Joe, showin

A TATTOO artist inked his dog on Tuesday while the poor pooch was under sedation to have its spleen removed — drawing the ire of dog lovers who say canines should only have tats for identification purposes.

Artist “Mistah Metro” — who works at Red Legged Devil tattoo shop in Prospect Heights in New York City — posted a photo of the hound on his Instagram page with the caption: “One of the many reasons my dog is cooler than yours! She had her spleen removed yesterday and the vet let me tattoo her while she was under,” Gothamist reported.

Shop owner Chris Torres quickly distanced himself from the tat — a blood-red heart with an arrow through it and the names Alex and Mel.

“That dog was not tattooed at the shop. Chris Torres and red legged devil LLC had nothing to do with it,” he commented in an online post.

The American Veterinary Medical Association and the ASPCA both took a dim view of the stunt.

“We can’t say a tattoo is going to do enormous damage to an animal,” a rep for the association told Gothamist. “But we do look at whether a procedure is therapeutically necessary first — if it’s not, that’s not the vet’s goal.”

The ASPCA, meanwhile, said it condoned tattooing dogs only for identification purposes — an easier procedure that causes the animal little pain.

“Tattooing an animal for the vain sake of joy and entertainment of the owner without any regard for the wellbeing of the animal … is not something the ASPCA supports,” the group said in a statement.

This article originally appeared in The New York Post.