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RSPCA: Tail Docking Of Dogs Should Be Banned

18 years ago
6979 views

Posted
18th January, 2006 00h00


Docking dogs’ tails for cosmetic purposes is painful, unnecessary, unethical and must be outlawed, say Britain’s foremost veterinary and animal welfare organisations on the eve of a Parliamentary debate on the Animal Welfare Bill. A new MORI poll also shows that just eight per cent of the British public supports the docking of dogs’ tails for cosmetic reasons, while 75 per cent oppose the practice. The British Veterinary Association (BVA), the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) and the RSPCA are today urging Parliament to take notice of the public and of those who dedicate their lives to alleviate animal suffering – and ban this mutilation through the Animal Welfare Bill. Docking involves cutting or crushing a puppy’s skin, muscles, up to seven pairs of nerves, and bone and cartilage – and is performed without anaesthetic when pups are just three to five days old. At this age they can feel pain, and research indicates they do so at a greater intensity than adult dogs because the ability to suppress pain develops with age and experience. “Currently the law only allows vets to perform this abhorrent amputation. The irony is that vets are united in their opposition to non-therapeutic tail docking of dogs,” says TV vet Emma Milne, who appeared in the BBC’s Vets in Practice. “Our profession’s long-held view, and one which is shared by the RSPCA and the majority of public, is that this unwarranted surgical procedure is unethical. The law is out of step with considered opinion and must be changed.” Veterinary associations and animal welfare groups are now urging Parliament to ensure that the docking of dogs’ tails is only allowed for therapeutic reasons (when a vet deems it necessary, for example, after a road traffic accident). Those in favour of docking often suggest the procedure is done to prevent tail damage in working dogs, yet docking has become standard in certain breeds regardless of whether the individual puppy becomes a pet or ever actually works. The traditionally docked breeds appear randomly selected. For example, German Shepherds, Foxhounds and Bearded Collies are not traditionally docked, while Jack Russells, Boxers and Rottweilers are. There are even anomalies within breed groups. For example the tails of Cocker and Springer spaniels are traditionally docked, and yet Cavalier King Charles spaniels’ tails are left entire. “The argument that dogs’ tails should be docked to prevent future injury, so-called prophylactic docking, is spurious too. We would not consider amputating a baby’s finger to prevent it from future injury, nor removing a cat’s tail because it might later get trapped,” says Dr Freda Scott-Park, BVA President. “So why perform a painful operation which will deprive a dog of a form of expression and an aid to balance?” Carmel Mooney, BSAVA President, adds: “Pro-dockers often falsely claim that young puppies cannot feel pain. There are differences between the neonatal and adult sensory systems - but the lack of coating on nerve fibres mean that impulses travel more slowly in the young. This does not mean puppies don’t feel, just that they don’t feel quite so quickly as adults.” The Government’s Animal Welfare Bill, published in October 2005, introduces an outright ban on mutilations – defined as interference with the sensitive tissue or bone structures of animals. However, the Secretary of State will be able to make exemptions, such as for neutering (by a veterinary surgeon with appropriate anaesthesia) and microchipping. The RSPCA, BVA, BSAVA and other welfare organisations are now urging Parliament to ensure that the only exemption extended to the docking of dogs’ tails is for therapeutic reasons. “While cosmetic docking remains legal, so does the unhealthy but sanctioned view that some pedigree dogs will fetch a better price without their tail. Disreputable breeders, unqualified and without compassion, will therefore continue to dock their puppies illegally – often causing death or intense suffering3,” says David Bowles, RSPCA Head of External Affairs. “The Animal Welfare Bill provides the perfect vehicle through which Parliament can finally act upon sound advice from the veterinary profession and animal welfare organisations and ban the brutal and outmoded practice of amputating a dog’s tail for fashion. Gradually breeders’ notions of canine beauty will then evolve to recognise that a perfect dog is one with it’s tail – as nature intended.”

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