Countryside Alliance Ireland - love the countryside

Tail Docking has not been banned in Northern Ireland.  Recent media articles have been misleading to say the least and indeed, they have been written in such a way as to infer that the Welfare of Animals Bill (which is entering committee stage in the Northern Ireland Assembly) has become law.  We wish to clarify the fact that tail docking has not been banned and is still lawful in Northern Ireland. 

In working dogs, docking may be defined as the prophylactic shortening of the tail.  Working dogs are docked in order to prevent injury and the procedure is a long-established aspect of kennel management.  The normal age at which the procedure is generally carried out is between 2 and 5 days, depending upon the breed concerned and always before a puppy’s eyes are open.  Docking is thus only undertaken when the task which a dog is expected to perform and the characteristics of the breed predispose it to tail injury.

Lyall Plant, Chief Executive of Countryside Alliance Ireland said “A survey recently undertaken shows that there is clear evidence that the tail docking ban in Scotland has led to a sharp rise in tail injuries for working dogs with full tails, leading to suffering and in most cases multiple injuries, extended treatment and an amputation for those dogs with full tails trying to carry out intensive work without repeated reoccurring injuries”. 

Countryside Alliance Ireland believes that to ban the prophylactic docking of working dogs tails would result in unnecessary suffering for large numbers of working dogs.  As such, it would be extraordinary that a measure designed to improve welfare would, for working dogs at least, have the opposite effect.

We therefore recommend that an exemption for working dogs in respect of tail docking should be included in primary legislation in Northern Ireland.