ANIMAL rights activists are to launch a campaign to outlaw the docking of dogs’ tails in Scotland.
Flushed with success following the ban on foxhunting, they believe they can rally enough support among MSPs and the public to make the centuries-old practice illegal.
However, they face stiff opposition from the countryside lobby who say the move
is another politically-correct attack on traditional rural life.
In England, the government is preparing to introduce an Animal Welfare Bill which will contain a clause outlawing tail docking of dogs except for strictly veterinary purposes. But the bill will not apply in Scotland.
Several organisations, including the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, are preparing to join forces in a concerted campaign to persuade Holyrood to follow their Westminster counterparts.
SSPCA spokeswoman, Doreen Graham, said: "We think the time is right for this cruel and barbaric practice to be outlawed. If it becomes illegal in England it makes perfect sense that it should not be allowed in Scotland either."
Although tail docking is widely used for cosmetic reasons in breeds such as boxers, Dobermans and Rotweillers, it was originally introduced to prevent hunting dogs suffering injury.
The veterinary profession is divided over the practice, with a growing number of practices refuse to carry out tail docking. Animal welfare groups want a complete ban, whether for working or show dogs.
Breeders and owners were banned from carrying out tail dockings in 1993 under the Veterinary Surgeons Act which pre-dated devolution and covers the whole of the UK. Offenders face fines of up to £5,000.
But without separate legislation, tail docking will remain legal in Scotland while banned in England once the Animal Welfare Bill is approved.
John Robbins, of Animal Concern, attacked vets who continued to carry out tail-docking .
He said: " The shooting society have been getting away with this for centuries, but that is no reason to suggest that we should allow it to continue. "
Dr Colin Shedden, director of the British Association for Shooting and Conservancy Scotland, said his members would fiercely oppose the campaign, adding that docking for working Welsh, cocker and springer spaniels, pointers and terriers was vital for their welfare.
"Any of these dogs working in dense gorse or bramble would constantly have the tips of their tails broken or damaged unless they were removed by a vet while very young.
"If not docked, the dog really suffers later in life from the pain and bleeding of a damaged tail. Repair doesn’t always work in an adult dog and removal of the damaged part is painful."
Graham Downing, of the Council of Docked Breeds, said the practice prevented pain and bloodshed in thousands of working dogs.
"A spaniel wags its tail all the time as it hunts through dense undergrowth and the physical make-up of its tail means it breaks very easily.
"Removing it prevents the dog from injury. So tail docking, far from being a cruel mutilation, is a positive animal welfare procedure."
Breeders of dogs whose tails are docked for cosmetic purposes say a ban would detract from the visual attraction of certain types.
Lynn Glass, who runs the Scottish Doberman Club, said: "It is not cruel to dock. If someone wants to buy one of my Dobermans and tells me in advance they don’t want the tail removed, then I won’t have the vet do it. They deserve the right to choose, but so do I."
A spokesman for The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons said: "We have for many years been firmly opposed to docking dogs’ tails unless it can be shown truly to be required for therapeutic reasons."
The full article contains 636 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
