Ear and tail docking involve surgically removing part of a dog’s ears or tail. This practice, which has been around for centuries, originally aimed to prevent injuries in hunting and working dogs.

At one time, dogs weren’t pets. Instead, they had jobs and consequently had a docked tail. Dogs worked on farms and in the military and helped with hunting, fighting, ratting, and baiting. That’s not ...

When did dog tail docking start? The ancient Romans believed that amputation of the tail tip and/or parts of the dog’s tongue could protect it from contracting rabies, which was then rampant all over ...

Tail docking a dog is maiming, extremely painful and deprives a dog of a vital communication system. For these reasons, it’s banned in South Africa. But it persists: hunting dogs, spaniels, Jack ...