Scottish Ban On Tail Docking Lifted

[Steve]

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The outright ban on all dog tail docking within Scotland has been lifted, Scottish Government has announced.

Environment secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, said that ‘legislation will be changed to permit the shortening of the tails of spaniel and hunt point retriever puppies where a vet believes they are likely to be for use as a working dog and risk serious tail injury in later life.’

Ms Cunningham said: “Scotland is a nation of animal lovers and we take the welfare of our pets, animals and livestock very seriously.

“We have seen evidence that some working dogs are suffering tail injuries so I have decided to allow vets to shorten the tails of Spaniel and Hunt Point Retriever puppies where they believe it will prevent future injuries amongst working dogs.”

The Kennel Club welcomed the new changes. Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club secretary, said: “Whilst we support UK-wide bans on tail docking for aesthetic reasons alone, we have long been disappointed that, unlike in England and Wales, the Scottish Executive did not make any exemptions for working dogs when they banned tail docking under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act.

“However we are heartened that our views, supported by the evidence on the tail injuries sustained by working dogs, have been taken on board by the Minister and that an exemption for working dogs will be introduced. This is undoubtedly the right decision and the Minister has the full support of the Kennel Club and Scottish Kennel Club.”

There were mixed reviews from other members of the profession though.

Paula Boyden, Dogs Trust veterinary director: “Dogs Trust is deeply concerned about the announcement that the Scottish Government will allow certain breeds of dogs to be docked. Amputating a puppy’s tail is a painful procedure but it is also unnecessary. Research by the Royal Veterinary College suggests that 500 dogs would need to have their tails docked to prevent one tail injury*.

“Tail docking takes place when puppies are just a few days old and so we also question how it can be ensured that only puppies that will go on to be working dogs will have their tails docked.”

[tdierikx]

We had a boxer in rescue a while back that kept damaging his tail, and the vets had to remove only the damaged part under the anti-docking laws here... 4 times!! Please tell me how repeated surgeries to fix his tail was more "humane" than if that dog had been docked shortly after birth?

In the end his tail was the same length as if he'd been docked young, and the vet had to write a letter saying why he had such a short tail in order to satisfy any authority asking questions about it... *sigh*

T.

[Roova]

I guess is depends how many fully tailed dogs are hurting themselves? If its a small percentage docking tails for all probably isn't really necessary?

Edited November 1, 2016 by Roova

[OSoSwift]

Obviously there were enough dogs presenting with injury to cause the law to change.

[Kirislin]

I've got 5 sighthounds here and 3 have broken tails. Not very good odds.