RCVS Council calls for ban on non-therapeutic tail-docking in dogs

The Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has unanimously agreed to support an amendment to the Animal Welfare Bill prohibiting tail-docking in dogs, except for therapeutic purposes.

This would be subject to a review after five years, to take stock of scientific evidence of any change in the incidence of tail injuries in dogs during this period.

Currently, the RCVS Guide to Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons accepts that docking may be permissible if it is for therapeutic or truly prophylactic reasons.  This guidance will be reviewed if Parliament decides to change the law.  The RCVS hopes that Parliament will make all non-therapeutic docking unlawful.

If the law is changed, a veterinary surgeon who docks a tail in circumstances not permitted by the amended law will be at risk of prosecution, as well as disciplinary action by RCVS. 

"For some time the RCVS has been firmly opposed to the docking of dogs' tails without good clinical reasons," comments Mrs Lynne Hill MRCVS, RCVS President.

"In 1993, when the law was changed and our current guidance laid down, it was hoped that cosmetic docking would in effect stop. Veterinary surgeons were advised then that they should only undertake therapeutic and 'truly prophylactic' docking, and docking by anyone else was banned. Yet evidence suggests a lot of non-therapeutic docking is still being carried out, whether by veterinary surgeons or others.

"A ban with any exemptions is very difficult to enforce and this proved to be the case with tail-docking. It has proved hard to gather sufficient evidence to hear cases against veterinary surgeons who may have transgressed the guidance.  We have come to the conclusion that it is time to stop prophylactic docking altogether.

"Animal welfare must be to the fore in any decision made by RCVS Council, and with a new Animal Welfare Bill going through Parliament this seemed like an excellent opportunity to call for a ban on all but therapeutic docking in dogs," she concludes.