I just watched a video where a veterinarian removed the dewclaws on puppies and then docked their tails. I get that the breed standard demands it that but I view it as a from a mutilation. I grew up in a place where there is ice and all the dogs depend on their dewclaw to cling to the ice if it suddenly breaks under them. Without the dewclaw, dogs lose the full ability to grip and secure themselves as they climb over obstacles.
My major problem with tail docking is that you are removing part of the animal's spine. The veterinarian justified that it causes less trauma doing while they're pups then as adults. But how many dogs really need to lose their tails during an accident. And how much of that is the owners fault for making them go through bad brush and their tail getting caught and not the dog having a tail. The tail on a dog is needed for balance and expression. I just don't understand people who say they love an animal and then have it mutilated a hour after it's born.
I think declawing and docking tails is cruel and totally unnecessary. That is, unless it causes some real medical damage to hurt the animal. This reminds me of the stories I've read in the news about a lady who horses. She let people come and look at them. One morning someone slices one of her prized horses tail off completely. I was so horrified. In the interview she says that the tail might grow back but it will take years. 🙁 That poor horse! Horses use the tails to swat flies away!
I feel the same way with cats being declawed as well. I would rather train my cat not to claw my furniture and give them a pole to claw on.
Declawing and docking tails and ears are very cruel. It should be consider illegal and forbidden! Some owners do these because they like the way the dog looks on certain breeds. It is mutilated the dog's natural life and I feel very bad for them.
We, human, want to play creators and want to design the dog to look the way we wanted. That's so bad!
I couldn't agree with you more about the tails, I've always found that to be a barbaric practice, a tail is a vital part of a dog in my eyes. I've heard in the past that dewclaws can become problematic in older dogs, perhaps thats why they are removed. I was under the impression that the dewclaws were also essentially useless and dogs had evolved out of being able to use them at all, so I'm surprised that they use them so effectively on ice, you learn something new every day.
Tail docking is almost completely banned where I live, with an exception for working dogs who will be actively working in a profession that make it likely to suffer tail injuries. Even then it is regulated tightly to about three breeds, a vet performing it, the breeder must file a form for each puppy proving its a working dog, and dogs with docked tails can't be shown as breed standard. I'll see if I can find the rules, if anyone's curious. Scotland just banned it outright.
Unless it has to be done for health reasons, like an injury or fly strike, tail docking always seemed a bit pointless to me. Yeah, ok, a happy dog with an intact tail can clear a coffee table with one enthusiastic swipe, but that just means you've put things too low. Wouldn't losing their tail affect a dog's balance, because I know mine tend to use it like a counter-balance when they're running?