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The practice of tail docking is contentious. It involves the amputation of a puppy’s tail and is performed without anaesthetic. By tradition, the tails of certain breeds of dog have been removed to comply with the breed standard set down by the Kennel Club. Supporters maintain that dogs are assisted by the removal of their tails to limit the risk of injury and to promote hygiene. Opposers have long contended that the docking of a dog’s tail for a cosmetic purpose only causes unnecessary suffering and removes a vital part of canine communication. Parliament was ultimately persuaded by the latter argument and outlawed tail docking in 2006 save for certain exceptions. There remains a demand for docked dogs. While that is the case there will always be breeders who continue to dock at home and unlawfully sometimes in ignorance of the law and sometimes in defiance. We can expect the offence of tail docking to be before the Courts consistently.

S6 Animal Welfare Act 2006 sets down that tail docking means the ‘removal of a whole or a part of a dog’s tail otherwise than for medical treatment’. There is no requirement that the entire tail be removed for the offence to be made out. Many breeders remain under the misconception that the UK is akin to the docking laws in Australia. In Australia it is illegal to remove the tail of a puppy using a surgical procedure but the use of an orthodontic band is a practice that has been successfully defended by breeders. That is not the case in the UK. It is an offence for any person to remove a dog’s tail using any procedure, to cause or allow another person to do so and to give false information to a vet in connection with a certificate. There are only two exceptions.

One is for medical treatment. The intention of Parliament was never to interfere with veterinary treatment. Vets remain free to amputate a dog’s tail if it would be in the interests of animal welfare to do so. Docking may be justified in the case of a dog with a diseased or damaged tail. The prohibition applies solely to cosmetic docking performed to comply with a breed standard.

The other is for working dogs. A puppy intended for working use can only be docked by a vet. Breeders are disallowed from docking at home regardless of their level of experience or the sterility of the conditions. The puppy must be not less than five days old. To be a working dog a vet must certify that two conditions are met. The first is that he must have seen evidence that the dog is intended for use in law enforcement, activities of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, emergency rescue, lawful pest control or the lawful shooting of animals. A signed statement from the owner or a person representing him confirming that it is intended the puppy will work must be presented to the vet. The second condition is that the puppy must be of a type specified for this type of work. Only certain breeds of dog can be docked and the vet must have sight of the dam of the puppy and be satisfied that she is of a specified type. The permissible breeds are covered by the Docking of Working Dogs’ Tails (England) Regulations 2007. In England, a vet may dock spaniels of any combination, terriers of any combination and any combination of hunt point retrievers. The latter type would include the Weimaraner but many dogs that have been traditionally docked, such as the Boxer or the Rottweiler, would not be exempted. Those dogs can never be docked lawfully save for medical treatment.

Any dog lawfully docked must have a certificate from a vet. Of course, many docked dogs do not. To prosecute this offence, however, the Crown must identify the person responsible and the defence should not overlook the difficulty this presents. It is rare that an owner of a docked dog will be responsible for the removal of its tail. A dog is usually docked by its breeder long before it reaches the owner. Some dogs are passed between owners throughout the course of their life and some are born outside of the jurisdiction where docking would not be an offence.

There is no offence in having possession of a docked dog whether the removal of its tail was legitimate or not. The offence most likely to be committed by the owner of a docked dog is under S6[9]. This prohibits the showing of a docked dog at any event to which the public are admitted for a fee unless the dog is shown to demonstrate its working ability. The offence is committed by a person who shows the dog rather than the event organisers. A docked dog may still be shown at a free event or in the course of an agility competition. The purpose of this offence was to prevent the showing of dogs without tails at events in which their conformity to the breed standard is judged. This has been substantially achieved. The English Kennel Club amended the breed standard upon the passing of the new law and there is no longer any incentive to show a docked dog at a competition.

The will of Parliament in 2006 was to bring an end to the requirement that certain dogs be docked to comply with their breed standard. To that extent, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 has been successful. All breed standards issued by the English Kennel Club now demand a tail in tact. Despite this there remains a market for docked dogs and breeders will continue to deliver to that market. It is likely there will be many more prosecutions under this legislation.

Jo Morris
1 Inner Temple Lane
www.1itl.com