VETERINARY IRELAND, the representative body for veterinary surgeons in Ireland, has called for the introduction of legislation banning the practice of “tail docking” of puppies.
It has said there are reports puppies and breeding bitches are being brought to Ireland from Britain so docking can take place because it is illegal to carry out the procedure there since 2007.
Tail docking is the term used to describe the act of shortening an animal’s tail by amputation, undertaken when the dog is just a puppy. It is sometimes carried out by non-professionals without anaesthesia or pain relief.
Most dogs are docked for cosmetic reasons, because some breeders believe it is normal for their breed, or that a docked dog is more likely to win at shows.
Alan Rossiter, chairman of Veterinary Ireland’s Companion Animal Society, said it unequivocally supported a specific legislative ban on docking of puppies, and a ban on the showing of dogs docked after such legislation is in place.
He said this would bring Ireland into line with Britain and many EU countries. Ireland was in a minority in Europe in not having a complete and specific legislative ban on docking of puppies for cosmetic or prophylactic reasons.
Mr Rossiter said the Dogs Trust, one of the biggest dog welfare organisations in Britain and Ireland, said there were reports of British breeders travelling to Ireland to have their puppies’ tails docked and returning to Britain for sale, or even bringing over pregnant bitches to whelp, docking the pups and then returning.
He said Veterinary Ireland’s policy was that unless for purely therapeutic reasons, then tail docking and other acts of mutilation (such as ear cropping and dew-clawing) for cosmetic and prophylactic reasons, should be banned.