………Continued from
It has been made clear to breeders, vets and Sussex canine
osteopaths that potential exemption from the current dog tail docking regulations
would be made only for outdoor-related activities such as exercise or work (which
accounted for 17.5% of the total injuries surveyed). On this basis, around 2,800 puppies would have
to be docked in order to protect the one working dog from tail injury. It could be argued that the majority of working
dogs do require (and deserve) a much greater degree of protection from injury and
dog pain than animals that lead less active lives. In principle we would agree with that. This has to balanced against the consideration
that working dogs are regularly placed in environments and situations where
they are likely to hurt themselves, and the injuries are not limited to the
tail.
The study refers to research by Houlton (2008)1, which
details injuries sustained by working dogs including:
·
lacerations to the inguinal region.
·
abdomen face and ears.
·
puncture wounds including stake penetrations of
the inguinal region, chest and pharynx.
·
foot injuries, lameness, elbow fractures,
ligament injuries and sprains, internal injuries, nostril damage, eye injuries
and tail injuries.
Sussex canine osteopaths assert that such a range of
injuries shows the flawed logic of docking as means to prevent tail injuries. It would be impossible to protect working dogs
from such a wide range of injuries by cutting off parts of their bodies.
Canine Osteopaths in Sussex
When considering just tail injuries, the study found that
working dogs were not, in fact, suffering significantly increased rates of
injury. It was other factors, including
breed characteristics and general levels of activity were shown to be more
important than the working activity itself. Breed was found to be a major factor, with
English springer spaniels, lurchers, greyhounds, cocker spaniels, and whippets
all being noted as being at a much higher risk than labradors and other kinds
of retrievers.
Of these, only spaniels are the only breed that is routinely
docked. An exemption for working dogs
would not be of any help in providing extra protection for greyhounds, lurchers
or whippets. As spaniels have feathered
tails, they were traditionally thought to have an increased risk of getting
caught up in undergrowth. However, such
tangling can be avoided simply by trimming the dogs tail hair, as opposed to
docking the tails of whole litters of puppies soon after birth.
There is a traditional view that puppies do not feel dog
pain while their tails are being docked.
This is based mostly on observations from people observing the procedure
who say the puppies don’t seem to react strongly. There is, however, considerable scientific
evidence that they do in fact suffer considerably. The faulty thinking comes
from the way we expect dogs to react to stimuli in the same way that humans do. We are coming to understand that dogs react
to pain in ways that are not immediately obvious, but they are suffering nonetheless.
The loss of the tail also affects the dog in other ways as it removes an
important means of balance and communication.
This can have other impacts on the animal throughout its life that
Sussex canine osteopaths could assess.
It is important to now have this authoritative study which
finally confirms there is no compelling scientific or statistical argument in
favour of tail docking. There is now a
growing movement that believes the matter is now settled for the argument about
what is actually in the animals’ best interest.
Following the publication of the report, it was telling that the Veterinary Record editorial focused not on whether working dog exemptions should be created in Scotland, but instead made argument about whether the current exemptions in England and Wales should be allowed to continue.
Following the publication of the report, it was telling that the Veterinary Record editorial focused not on whether working dog exemptions should be created in Scotland, but instead made argument about whether the current exemptions in England and Wales should be allowed to continue.
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