Tail docking, imo, is cruel and it has been banned in more progressive countries. It used to be done when dogs were working dogs to prevent them from injuring the longer tail when they were "working". Now it is done simply to please judge's at dog shows. It is illegal to dock tails in Germany so the Biewer Yorkshire Terrier from Germany has an undocked tail.
There is a movement in this country to ban all "cosmetic" surgery on dogs which would include earclipping and tail docking. Anyone who tries to tell you that the puppies do not feel any pain, or even "less" pain, at three days old is not accurate according to the research on this that I have read. They do feel pain and they cry.
Breeders who sell show dogs feel they have to dock tails because they cannot tell what will be a show dog and what will be a pet until the puppies are much older so they dock all the tails just in case. Hobby and pet breeders do it because they think people expect it.
I, for one, hope the movement to ban these painful and unnecessary procedures here is successful. I love an undocked tail, although all of mine have docked tails. |