Working dogs’tail injuries

AS MANY as one in every two working dogs have suffered horrific tail injuries in less than a year as a result of the ban on docking — research has revealed.

Researchers at Glasgow University found that almost 57% of working spaniels suffered a tail injury during the 2010-2011 shooting season.

The study suggests thousands of undocked working dogs across Scotland are suffering needlessly, with some of them having their tails amputated despite attempts to save them.

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association said “a promise has been broken” by the First Minister Alex Salmond who pledged to review docking law five years ago.

But a Scottish Government spokeswoman said they were aware of the issues surrounding working dogs and are committed to animal welfare.

While the practice of shortening dogs tails was common for many breeds of dogs, continued pressure from animal welfareactivistssawtheprocedurebannedin Scotland in 2007.

The Glasgow University research, which was carried out by the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences and is expected to be published in the coming months, examined 2,860 working dogs in Scotland in 2010-11.

Many dogs damage

their

tails

after rushing through thick bracken and become tangle in the branches.

The team found that 56.6% of the spaniels included in the survey suffered at least one tail injury during the year.

Some 38.5% of hunt point retrievers also suffered at least one tail injury.

“Docking hunt point retrievers and spaniels by one third would significantly decrease the risk of tail injury sustained while working in these breeds,” say the researchers. TV vet Neil McIntosh is backing the campaign to allow tail docking of working dogs.

He said: “Done properly at three days old, it is literally a quick snip. For an adult working dog it is different, requiring anaesthesia, incision, ligation of bleeding vessels and suturing.” A spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said: “The First MinisterAlex Salmond made a promise on this. Thus far he has failed to keep it. At the moment, it is a broken promise.”

But the Scottish SPCA disagreed, saying: “We support a total ban on the docking of dogs’ tails … as this would be a backward step for animal welfare in Scotland.”

Working dogs can have their tails docked legally in England, Ireland and Wales.