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Minister Coveney approves painful mutilation of dogs
23 July 2014
The Minister for Agriculture has given his approval to an animal mutilation that is considered so unethical, Irish vets who perform it could be struck off.
It has emerged that on March 5th, two days before the Animal Health and Welfare Act came into effect, Minister Simon Coveney gave the go-ahead to Statutory Instrument 128/2014 which despite being titled "Prohibition On Tail Docking And Dew Claw Removal (Dogs) Regulations 2014" actually sets out "the conditions under which the docking of a dog's tail is permitted".
Once again the Minister for Agriculture has shamefully given in to those involved in animal cruelty and granted the exemption they were seeking. He has dismissed calls from animal lovers and animal protection groups to implement a ban on all tail docking and dew claw removal. Docking has been condemned for causing "unnecessary short and long-term pain and suffering" while dew claw removal has been likened to "the chopping off of the equivalent of the thumbs of pups".
But while the intention of Coveney's regulations is to allow certain breeds of hunting dogs to be subjected to mutilation, the veterinary profession here consider it unethical and are thankfully refusing to perform it. Unless the docking of a tail is for therapeutic purposes, vets are strictly prohibited from carrying it out.
According to the regulations, "a person shall not remove or cause or permit another person to remove the tail or part of the tail or the dew claws of a dog" - unless it's done in accordance with Regulation 4.
Regulation 4 states that "a veterinary practitioner or a veterinary nurse may remove the tail or part of the tail or the dew claws of a pointer, spaniel or terrier" if the dog is less than 8 days old and if the dog is "to be used in connection with lawful pest control or the lawful hunting or shooting of animals".
Last year, hunting groups asked Minister Coveney to allow them to continue subjecting their dogs to the cruel and painful procedures by exempting them from the provisions of the Animal Health and Welfare Act. In December, the Minister said that exemptions for the docking of "certain breeds" in "certain circumstances" may be considered but only if scientific evidence shows that it is of benefit to the welfare of the dog.
ICABS understands that an expert veterinary working group, comprising members of Veterinary Ireland, the Veterinary Council of Ireland and the School of Veterinary medicine in UCD, has been set up to consider if "the incidence and severity of tail injuries in working dogs is so high over their lifetime that they will, on balance, suffer less by being preventatively docked as pups." When their report is complete, they will be making a submission to the Minister.
The latest research from Scotland suggests that to prevent one tail injury in an adult dog, between 81 and 135 puppies would need to be docked.
Speaking on Morning Ireland last November, Veterinary Ireland's Alan Rossiter stated: "We've looked at this in a very objective manner and all the studies we've looked at so far have said that the incidence of injury just isn't high enough to warrant cutting off all their tails...We're disbarred by the Veterinary Council of Ireland from doing this procedure. If I did it, I could be struck off because they are unethical procedures, they confer no benefit to the animal; they only cause pain and risk to the animal."
ACTION ALERT
Tell Minister Coveney that cutting off tails and dew claws is cruel. Ask him to reverse his decision to allow it.
Minister Simon Coveney
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie
Tel: 01-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Please sign and share our petition.
Minister - Don't allow hunters to cut off dogs' tails.
Minister Coveney announces tail docking by non-vets won't be allowed
22 November 2013
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has announced that tail docking and the removal of dogs' claws won't be allowed by non-vets.
Speaking in Mullingar at the AGM of Veterinary Ireland, the Minister said that exemptions for the docking of "certain breeds" in "certain circumstances" may be considered but only if scientific evidence shows that it is of benefit to the welfare of the dog. While it is unclear what this actually means, it is hoped that with Irish vets disallowed from performing tail docking on healthy tails, there will be a rejection of calls by hunters to allow hunting dogs to be mutilated.
Bloodsports groups have been applying pressure on the Minister to grant them exemptions from the provisions of the Animal Health and Welfare Act to carry out the cruel and painful procedures. But according to the veterinary profession, such amputations are unethical and cannot be justified.
In a Morning Ireland interview earlier this month, Veterinary Ireland's Alan Rossiter outlined that any vet that carries out tail docking risks being struck off.
"We actually can't do it," he said. "We're disbarred by the Veterinary Council of Ireland from doing this procedure. If I did it, I could be struck off because they are unethical procedures, they confer no benefit to the animal; they only cause pain and risk to the animal."
Asked if there are any situations that would justify the docking of a tail, Mr Rossiter said: "There is a debate that the incidence of injury of tails in hunting dogs may be high enough to warrant the preventative removal of that tail. Now, we've looked at this in a very objective manner and all the studies we've looked at so far have said that the incidence of injury just isn't high enough to warrant cutting off all their tails. If it was, we would have a different opinion."
"The Veterinary Council has looked at this and they came up with the same opinion and that's why we've been told not to do it," he added.
Despite the veterinary council's conclusions, the Minister is yet to announce a blanket ban on all tail docking. He is understood to be awaiting the results of a Scottish study into the issue before making a final decision. With hunters pressurising the Minister to exempt their dogs, it is imperative that we continue calling for ALL dogs to be spared the pain of tail docking.
Until Minister Simon Coveney confirms that there will be no exemptions for hunting dogs, please sign our petition and encourage others to do so too.
Please Sign it Now and contact the Minister for clarification.
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie
Tel: 01-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Minister Coveney: Don't allow hunters to cut off dogs' tails
22 November 2013
Please join calls on Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to immediately scrap plans to allow hunters and terriermen to dock the tails of dogs. Considered by the Irish veterinary profession to be an unethical mutilation, tail docking is a cruel and painful procedure involving the removal of some or all of the tail. It is crudely carried out without pain relief.
The Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2013 makes it an offence to tail dock but shocking new regulations being drawn up by the Department of Agriculture aim to exempt hunters and terriermen. The regulations are also seeking to allow the cruel removal of the dew claws of dogs - described as "the chopping off of the equivalent of the thumbs of pups".
Minister Coveney's proposal has been widely condemned by the veterinary profession as well as by dog welfare groups.
In a joint statement from Veterinary Ireland, ISPCA and Dogs Trust, Minister Coveney is urged not to allow tail docking because it "causes unnecessary short and long-term pain and suffering".
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