LAUSR

A ProPosAl to permit tail docking in some working dogs in scotland has met strong resistance from across the profession. last week roseanna Cunningham, secretary for environment, climate change and land reform, published a package of animal welfare measures for consideration by the scottish Parliament this summer. Among them was the proposal for new legislation to permit vets to shorten the tails (remove the end third) of any spaniels and hunt point retrievers intended for use as working dogs. The government said the intention is to reduce the number of tail injuries suffered by working dogs but the proposal has met with strong criticism. later this month, the BVA will present evidence to the scottish Parliament’s Environment, Climate Change and land reform (ECClr) Committee on the proposals. Gudrun ravetz, BVA president, said: ‘This is such an important matter for dogs – such a fundamental part of their communication – we have to be absolutely sure on evidence – not on anecdote – that this is the right thing to do and the evidence just doesn’t stack up.’ ‘When we look at the evidence the number of dogs that need to be tail-docked to improve the injury ratio to one single animal is just too high. If we were talking about a new drug, you’d have to question whether you’d give it to so many animals.’ Glasgow vet and BsAVA spokesman ross Allen agreed, saying there was a disconnect between science and policy. ‘The number needed to treat – the number of dogs needing to be docked to prevent one injury – makes it difficult to justify.’ He also said it was much easier for vets to work under a clear law. ‘I think for the vast majority of vets in scotland, the clear unambiguous legislation is preferable to a situation where there is scope for interpretation.’ David Morton, European veterinary specialist in animal welfare science, ethics and law, said if scotland went ahead with the ban, it would be a case of the ‘tail wagging the dog’. ‘They are not taking into account all the puppies that will undergo the pain and suffering of docking against the lower number that are used for hunting and that may require later treatment, which will nearly always be under an anaesthetic to prevent them feeling pain,’ he said. ‘Animal welfare would appear therefore to be a low priority for scotland over the human pleasure gained through hunting.’ Paul roger, European veterinary specialist in animal welfare science, ethics and law, said shortening tails caused pathological conditions – like chronic pain. ‘Tail docking is an unnecessary step that may lead to problems in later life. When we amputate limbs we use local and general anaesthetics because if you don’t use both you get phantom pain. There is no reason to expect that dogs won’t suffer the same.’ sarah Heath, rCVs and European veterinary specialist in behavioural medicine (companion animals), said the preservation of the canine tail was important because it enabled dogs to communicate successfully with one another. ‘In interactions between dogs the subtle signals of tail position will help to create an accurate impression of emotional state and therefore of expected behavioural responses. This can be vital in predicting potential outcome of encounters between dogs and reducing the risk of confrontational interactions.’ However some rural vets are supportive of change. Alan Marshall, a vet in Dumfries, will present evidence in favour of the law being changed. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like tail-docking. It was a job I did not like doing. But I see the problem when damaged tails come in later in life. Urban vets won’t see the tail injuries that I see. ‘We have got rid of tail-docking in Yorkshire terriers, schnauzers, old English sheep dogs, in boxers, rottweilers – in most of the breeds that were traditionally tail docked. We are now just looking for tail docking in a very tightly controlled definition of working dogs that are a problem. The urbanites have won the case but there is still a major problem so we do now need to meet in the middle due to us losing tail docking in working breeds.’