Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilby'sMum
Yep and docking tails is illegal too but you still see plenty of docked puppies!
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Is it illegal to show a dog with a docked tail but legal to dock the tails of dogs that are intended to be sold to working homes in Australia? That's how it is in parts of Europe.
Personally, I think it is more inhumane to not dock the tail and remove the dewclaws in a working dog and therefore increase the risk of injury in the field than to leave them undocked. I also think that preventing docked/cropped dogs from showing will only further the division between "show" lines and "working" lines in many breeds.
The cropping of the ears, I understand. That procedure takes time to heal, is more invasive, and if care isn't taken with the taping, there is more chance of it going wrong and even resulting in infection. But I have no problem with dewclaw removal or with docking of the tail though, provided it's done on the 3rd day of life. EEG studies in the 60's of newborn pups as well as other studies before and since, show that their nervous systems are not fully developed at 3 days and as a result, they experience virtually no pain associated with the procedures.