[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by luvlee

(partial quote)

I understand "prevention" for the working animal. Like I previously mentioned, during the Industrial Revolution when Yorkies had to fit themselves into tight spaces with surrounding machinery that could catch a tail, it seems logical to remove part of the tail to prevent entanglement and a horrific death. But, come on, no Yorkie does that work anymore! The purpose for docking has ended. Whatever the learned articles say, human action/interference is the sole cause of the initial cut/damage/pain/suffering, etc.

So, IMHO, the purposeful injury and maming of another living thing should also cease. But I'm also the type who doesn't kill a spider or bug despite the heebie jeebies I get every time I catch and release the insect. I hope - one day - the Yorkie human community will accept the great gift of the Yorkshire Terrier just as God created them!

I'm doing some partial quotes here bc I want to quote a few different posts of yours. Anyway, really appreciate what you're saying in that 1st para above.

Btw, I don't kill bugs either - me and hubby catch and release bugs . The one exception we sometimes have to make is scorpions bc my husband actually is allergic to the venom (on ER trip was enough). If we can't catch them in the house, we have to help them onto their next life, unforch.

Originally Posted by luvlee

The "injury", if you will, is the initial trauma, insult, assault to the body of a living creature - the cut of the tail. As I previously mentioned, yorkies can't complain if the 'snip' results in nerve damage, infection, fear, stress, brainwave changes/alterations, or whatever else could happen when WE interfere with other LIFE forms.

I have no problem with alteration as a means of PREVENTION, ie, when Yorkies were actually working dogs in mills with machinery that could catch a wayward tail. Yet, I strongly feel that the docking alteration AT THIS TIME is irrelevant to the breed.

Maybe breeders (well meaning, reputable and overall good) fear that their lines would be sacrificed if some other body (ie the AKC) decides that the length of the tails in their lines are too long, short, ugly or whatever.

I feel badly for the breeders. However, that can not be the reason to preserve a barbaric and outdated practice that fails to serve a useful purpose.

Like I said, I bet the imperical data will show that amount of long term tail injury after a docking ban is MINIMAL compared to sparing the entire Yorkshire Terrier breed from the unnecessary harm, pain & injury caused BY the docking process itself. Just my opinion....

Really like the whole post.

Originally Posted by luvlee

Most of this thread addressed pain and trauma issues surrounding tail docking and it also made the comparison with human circumcision. IMHO anytime you cut a living thing unecessarily you induce trauma, cause harm and injure and assault that living thing. I don't care if it's deemed "minimal" or not. And I'm not well versed enough in yorkie speak to determine the level of pain any pup feels, perceives, senses or REMEMBERS during and from a docking procedure. For all we know, it could alter the personality of the pup entirely! So why do it?

Previously in this thread I referenced that recent medical studies have concluded that the process of circumcision in newborns introduces great pain and trauma to the infant - even tho it's a very "minimal" procedure. That pain and trauma is not only very real - but it can have long standing effects on an infant. Comparatively, why wouldn't the same logic apply here?

If I have a hang nail or small abrasion, I can flinch. Here, you have a new life, unsuspecting and unknowing of anything except air to breath & mother's milk, having a scissor taken to its tail. That's a real trauma. And why should we traumatize puppies without justifiable reason?

I don't know. Like I previously stated, I hope that in the future more enlightened thinking and logic will prevail.

Yup. It has always bothered me greatly that these procedures of altering the body are performed on these brand new little lives. Takes my breath away when I think of it.