Dog owners seek twist in tail of docking ban

Published on Saturday 14 June 2008 19:43

COUNTRYSIDE campaigners are launching a new bid to overturn a ban on the tail-docking of working dogs introduced by the Scottish Parliament.

The ban, which prevents breeders from severing the tails of newborn pups to stop them from getting injured later in life, became law in 2006 on animal-welfare grounds.

But an alliance of countryside groups now wants the ban rescinded to bring Scotland into line with England, which exempted working dogs when similar legislation was passed at Westminster.

They claim that undocked dogs trained to work alongside game hunters in thick undergrowth are likely to sustain tail injuries that will result in painful amputations for adult animals.

New research by vets, to be published this year, found "a highly significant association" between tail injuries and undocked dogs.

A survey carried out among more than 1,000 gundogs by Davies Veterinary Specialists in Hertfordshire revealed that around one in three undocked animals suffered tail injuries compared with around one in 20 docked animals.

Some owners of working dogs in Scotland are now ensuring that pregnant bitches are taken south of the border to have their pups where the litter can be legally docked. They are then brought back to Scotland. Other owners who dock their dogs illegally face swingeing fines if caught. At least two have been prosecuted since the ban was introduced.

The pro-docking group is made up of the Scottish Countryside Alliance (SCA), the British Association for Shooting and Conservation Scotland, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association and the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association, which will be collecting signatures for a petition to overturn the ban at the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston this week.

Ross Montague, the SCA's campaign manager, said: "With weight of numbers behind us, we hope that we stand a good chance of overturning this anti-welfare ban.

"Undocked dogs which do go to work, or even play in the garden, are extremely likely to injure their tails as they instinctively crash around through the undergrowth. For their sake, the tail docking ban needs to be overturned."

The petition will be presented to the Parliament's Petitions Committee this year.

The campaign is being opposed by Advocates for Animals, which insisted all veterinary organisations were in favour of a ban unless tail-docking was required for genuine therapeutic reasons.

A spokeswoman said: "Tail docking is an amputation involving cutting or crushing skin, muscles, nerves, tendons, bones and cartilage connections. It causes acute pain to puppies and is thought to also cause long-term pain due to pathological nerve activity due to tissue damage."

In a statement, the Scottish Government conceded the tail-docking ban was "controversial." It has contributed 10,000 towards a case-control study looking at the effect of the ban on tail injuries in 30 veterinary practices in Scotland and England.