It's funny, before I got Bitsy, I thought that with some dogs, they were BORN with a nub of a tail and I thought it was so cute and I wanted a dog with a nubbie tail. Then when I started looking for a puppy, and in ads I saw "tails docked and dewclaws removed", I wondered what that meant.
I googled it and that was when I realized that it meant their tails are cutoff
All these years, I thought they were born with the nub, like the Manx cat.
Call it what you will, it's mutilation plain and simple.
I also think as animal lovers, we need to advocate for those that can't advocate for themselves.