OneKind has called on the Scottish Government not to weaken the law and allow tail docking again in Scotland.
The tail-docking of all dogs was banned in Scotland in 2007, under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. OneKind led a strong campaign to bring this painful mutilation to an end. Since then, however, gamekeepers and the shooting industry have been lobbying for spaniels and other working dogs to be docked once more, to prevent injuries to adult dogs.
The Scottish Government is now proposing to allow vets in Scotland to dock a maximum of one third in length from the tails of working spaniels and Hunt Point Retrievers up to five days old “if they believe on the evidence presented to them that they are likely to be used for working in future and that the pain of docking is outweighed by the possible avoidance of more serious injuries later in life”.
No-one can deny the power of photographs of blood-spattered spaniels that supporters of weakening the ban have published. It may seem obvious that the way to prevent these injuries is to snip of the tiny tails of young puppies as a precaution. But that is far too simplistic as it completely ignores the impact of tail docking itself.
In our response to the Scottish Government consultation, OneKind has pointed out that those young puppies can and do feel pain at the time of docking. Adult dogs undergoing tail amputation would at least do so under general anaesthesia and be provided with pain relief. The tail tip injury may hurt but the actual amputation could be less painful than a puppy being docked. And the welfare equation has to include the fact that a high number of puppies – between 81 and 135 – would need to be docked in order to prevent one tail injury in an adult that results in veterinary treatment.
This means there is little or no guidance available to vets as to how – or whether – the smaller number of “more serious injuries later in life” really do outweigh the pain inflicted on every single puppy that is docked shortly after birth.
Vets would also be left to judge whether the young puppies presented in the surgery are really going to grow up to work in the field, based on what the owners or breeders tell them. Anecdotal evidence from England and Wales, where the docking of working dogs is still permitted, suggests that declarations made by owners are not always correct or, to put it another way, true.
In our response, we have recommended that the Scottish Government should not proceed with the exemption until it has further evidence regarding the pain of docking, long term health and behavioural effects, and alternatives to docking such as selecting safer terrain or not using a vulnerable dog when shooting. Without this information, OneKind believes there is simply no justification to relax Scotland’s ban on tail-docking, even in the limited way suggested.
If the proposal does proceed, however, we hope and expect that most vets in Scotland will adhere to the view of the British Veterinary Association, which says:
“We are opposed to the docking of puppies’ tails. We believe that puppies suffer unnecessary pain as a result of docking, and are deprived of a vital form of canine expression. Chronic pain can arise from poorly-performed docking. We would reiterate that surgical operations should not be undertaken unless necessary for therapeutic purposes and that docking should be banned as a procedure, other than for veterinary medical reasons, for all breeds of dog.”
Read the OneKind consultation response here.