KIMMAX German Wirehaired Pointer (Deutsch Drahthaar)
Kimmax German Wirehaired Pointers are the UK’s leading breeders of the true dual purpose German Wirehaired Pointers (Deutsch Drahthaars) , proven in the field in the UK and Germany. » Is Tail Docking Finished ?

I was sent the results of the final consultation document today by DEFRA which, as expected, discusses many of the views of various agencies, but did not seek representation from the dog breed clubs.

Despite this, on the face of it the HPR breed lobby has been successful;

• It has been accepted that is a working exemption for all HPR breeds bred in England to the general tail docking ban which will come into force in April 2007
• The only main restriction on a dog with a docked tail is that it cannot be shown at a public show where the public pay to enter, eg. Crufts

Not so bad then you would think - but actually the true nature of the changes are becoming clear in effectively imposing a total ban across all breeds (and a complete ban in Scotland and possibly Wales). This is how it works;

• Vets running scared - Vets who legally dock, have already had their livelyhoods threatened by the RCVS and only continue to dock with the legal protection of the Council for Docked Breeds (CDB). The CDB are now warning that they may not be able to afford that legal insurance to support vets who wish to continue to dock.
• Onerous Rules - Docking has always been done by vets, but it has now been proposed that all dogs must be docked at a surgery and microchipped at that surgery - some agencies who should know better saying this is acceptable to chip a puppy a few days old.
• Brood Bitch - The puppies mother must be taken to the vets with the puppies. A visit to the vets is stressful enough for a bitch, but now she must endure that a few days after labour for the vet to assess if she behaves like the pups mother - DNA evidence is not viable !
• Working Evidence - The vet must now sign a certificate to say that he has seen suitable forms of evidence that the puppies are going to working homes (shot gun certificates etc). So at a day old we decide who is going to a working home.

So there you are, from April at 1-2 days old we can no longer have a helpful vet visit the bitch at our home, dock the tails in a stress free environment for the bitch and be free to choose the right homes for individual dogs as their characters develop at 6-8 weeks of age. All in the name of Welfare ….. crazy.

So why resist a docking ban ….. after all, the RSPCA and other agencies are hell bent on outlawing it ……

Simple, they do not work dogs, they do not have to deal with tail amputations if problems arise. No-one cares about the evidence that tail amputations have risen dramatically in Scandanavia where an outright ban was imposed and in Germany, where our breed originates, docking is mandatory for registration for puppies as a Deutsch Drahthaar because it is a working breed, yet generally there is an overall docking ban.

This is a battle set to run and run - in the latest twist, the mainstay of the Government’s penalties for being classified a ‘working dog’ was that they will not be able to be shown at a show where the public pay to get in.

Well guess what - most of the show societies are ceasing to charge entrance fees to the public - I wonder why ?