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Location: Norf Eest
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 14,995
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Originally Posted by Charmergirl
I hope tail docking is banned. What's the point of it? I've heared many excuses for it e.g.-
'Spaniels can damage their tails when out on shoots if they're not docked'
how come labradors, setters, pointers, retrievers etc aren't docked then?
'Thieves and attackers can't grab hold of doberman's tails whilst they are guarding'
How come Alsations aren't docked then?
'It looks better'
Errrrrrrrr, no it doesn't. We're used to it, that's all.
random - cutting off a puppy's tail is the equvalent in pain to cutting off a baby's little finger, how is that not 'real' animal cruelity? Do you really think that some isolated incidents with tails and dew claws warrents the removal of all dogs' tails and claws? Even show animals who are never going to work in their life? I've seen dogs get their legs messed up in barbed wire and traps - does that mean we should amputate puppies legs at birth and make them go around on motorised wheel chairs?
Just relating to my own breed here, but Weimies are HPR, labs,and goldens I believe only usually retrieve? Pointers only usually point? No hunting or 'flushing' (which the spaniels are for). They do a different job, hence why Weimies are usually docked, and labs not. The way docked and undocked gundogs work differ, I belieive this is why some are usually docked and some are not.
I also have a very good friend who has had Rotties for a very long time, and bred them, the band method of docking was what he used (it was totally acceptable at the time) and not one of the pups expressed any amount of discomfort or pain. The dew claws are a different matter, but unlike tails which obviously have a purpose, dew claws don't.
One of my best friends had 6 fingers and toes at birth, the extra digits were surgically removed when she was a baby. Should this kind of thing be banned also? After all, they were only removed for cosmetic reasons, that must have been child cruelty at it's worst, if docking is to be considered animal cruelty....
At the end of the day, some people are for and some against, and that's how it will be and when the ban takes place, as i'm sure it will, those of us against it will just have to accept the change, I will always have Weimies, docked or not and i'll love the breed just as much as I ever did.