Laurence Dollimore
THE docking of dogs’ tails for aesthetic reasons has finally been banned in Spain.
The state’s congress approved the prohibition by ratifying the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals, a process undertaken by some European countries almost 30 years ago.
Under the new law, the amputation of ears, claws, teeth or vocal chords is also banned due to widespread belief that it amounts to cruelty.
Andalucia was one of seven autonomous communities that had already banned the practice despite the lack of a national law, which must now be adhered to in the remaining 10 regions.
My boxer had her tail clipped when one month old, no pain involved and helped her appear the cutest. Estate intromission in almost private affairs is going too far.
It is simply cruel to cut off bits of animal’s anatomies. How would you like it if your parents thought YOU looked “cute” with your ears clipped? A dog is born with a tail after millennia of natural selection, there is a valid reason for tails. How do you know there was “no pain involved”? It wasn’t your body being sliced at. You would not be allowed to enter the worlds most prestigious dog show-Crufts- with your mutilated animal. Catch up with the 21st century. While you’re at it, outlaw bullbaiting too.
Instead of clipping her tail by the owner of her mother at one month old, it was performed when she was a newborn, so no cruelty involved. This allowed for less danger to furniture and objects around the house. I am against ears clipping though.
Cropped and docked boxers are allowed in shows. Bullfighting is a topic for another day.
The Animal Welfare Act states that no dog docked after April 2007 may be shown at any show that charges admission. This includes Crufts. Bullbaiting is a perennial topic, not to be kicked into the long grass. Congratulations to Spain for seeing sense on docking, now cope with the far greater cruelty shown to bulls.
Do you believe circumcision doesn’t hurt if done early enough zabaot?
the perennial struggle with the kennel club. Neither I believe cropping at birth nor circumcision at the 8th day cause any trouble and later on anesthesia should be used.
From where do you derive your belief that pain cannot be felt in the periods you specify zabaot?
I have checked up the Animal Welare Act of 2006 and you can get permission to exhibit a docked dog.
Suggest you take your mutilated dog to Crufts then, where you will discover the workings of said act which states ONLY dogs docked before April 2007 may be shown. Certain working dogs, terriers etc may be partially docked but a fair amount of tail must be left. Boxers are not working dogs.
Be happy that Spain is finally waking up to the unnecessary cruelty involved in this practice of dog owners vanity.
You´re setting a bad example naming Crufts for its ambitions of pedigreeing a master race, rules and regulations are changing all the time. Would you call mutilation getting rid of the appendix or wisdom tooth?
You are getting desperate zabaot. Bit silly to compare a human medical necessity with a dog owner’s desire to mutilate an animal in order to boost their own ego. Now if you were to compare various cosmetic surgery procedures with animal mutilation you might have a point, But then, the human being has a choice, the animal doesn’t.
I love animals, as presumably, do you. But I like them as they come, you prefer to alter (painfully) what is natural, for your own pride.
You are getting silly, how can you accuse someone of pride or vanity when dog races are made to fulfill the ego of their creators and prospect owners?. Docking a dog´s tail is supossed to be the way the artificial Boxer race was conceived. If Crufts doesn´t allow it and is the one in charge of dog´s pedigrees is because it might think the tail has anything to do with the purity of the race since there are ways to bypass the Parliement Act. For dogs, docking could be a cause of life or dead since that depend on the whims of prospective owners.