The following chart gives information
on European countries available as at June 2002,
compiled by and with kind thanks to Maria-Luise Doppeireiter
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | X | Y | Z
| Austria | In
Austria, the protection of animals is not a nation-wide law, there are different
laws in the federal countries of Austria. With the agreement Art. 15aB all
federal countries of Austria agreed in 2000 to decide on new animal protection
laws within a certain time limit. This means, that tail-docking is allowed
in some parts of Austria, but banned in others.
Docked
dogs, whether bred or owned by Austrians or by exhibitors from other countries,
may be shown without any restrictions. It is also allowed to breed from/with
docked dogs. At the moment docking is banned in Salzburg. The other federal
countries in Austria will follow suit, and docking could be banned in
all parts of Austria in the future, but there don't seem to be any moves
towards restrictions to show or import docked dogs from other countries
- at least at the moment. |
| Belgium | Docking
is allowed until 01.01.2006. It has to be carried out using the surgical
method, anaesthesia/sedation not required during the first 4 days of life.
The Belgium law regarding docking: Royal decree of May 17, 2001 1. In accordance with Art.2 of this A.R. and in article 17 (a) of the law of August 14, 1986, (as described in the law of 4 May 1995 modifying this), "it are (henceforth) forbidden" to carry out on vertebrated animal one "or several interventions" involving the amputation or the "lesion of one or more significant parts" of its body". 2.
According to the article 1st interventions on vertebrated animals, enumerated
in the appendix with the A.R. from the 17.05.01 are authorized under the
conditions mentioned, in accordance with same Article 17 (a). §2,3°
of the law of the 14.08.86. |
| Byelorussia | Docking
allowed without restrictions |
| Croatia | Tail-docking
is possible in Croatia and will be in the future, there are no restrictions!
There are no moves in favour of a docking ban in the near future. |
| Denmark | Tail
docking is only allowed with in 5 breeds, which are: Weimaraner, Vizsla,
German Wirehaired Pointer, German Shorthair Pointer and Breton. Their tails
may be docked by a veterinarian within the first 4 days after birth. It
is not allowed to dock the tails of any other breeds. Only these 5 breeds
are allowed to be shown and go to working class. Other breeds are not allowed
to be shown or to gain in working class, if they are docked, even if they
are from countries, where docking is permitted - no matter if they are owned
by someone from Denmark or by someone from countries, where docking is still
allowed. It's allowed to breed with a docked dog, if the dog has all the
breeding requirements for the breed - this can be a problem, as some breeds
need show results for breeding permission - so the dog has to be shown in
a country, where it is allowed to show docked dogs. I have no statistics
on dogs with tail-injuries from formerly docked breeds!It is not allowed
to dock in Denmark anymore, it has been forbidden for a few years. It is
not possible to show dogs born after 1.6.1996 with docked tails, no matter
in which country they were born or where their owner lives. It is only allowed
to dock Epagneul Breton (Britanny), Hungarian Vizsla, Weimaraner, German
Wirehaired Pointer and German Shorthaired Pointer, and also to show them
in Denmark. They say it is allowed to dock these breeds due to medical reasons,
since most of them are used as hunting dogs and they would damage their
tails all the time. If there will be European or World Winner show in Denmark,
there will be special rules and it will be possible to show dogs with docked
tails. Since beginning of 2002 it has also been allowed to take dogs with
docked tails to official tests (working test, field trial test, obedience,
agility, etc., etc.) in Denmark. It is possible to breed from a docked dog
and register the puppies in Denmark, but the problem is, that the dog has
to have a show result (1st price in quality) from an official show, before
it is allowed to use the dog or the bitch in breeding and the Danish Kennel
Club will register the puppies.
It can cause problems to be able to show a docked dog and get an official show result to him/her since there are more and more countries with docking ban and it's also more and more difficult to show dogs with docked tails in different countries. It is also a bit difficult to import a dog from England or some other country where the docking is allowed, breeders are not so willing to leave a long tail and they are not so interested in selling a dog just for breeding if he cannot be shown at all? I do not have statistics about the tail damages, I can only speak about my own experiences. We use our dogs in practical hunting (pheasants, doves, woodcocks, ducks, foxes, beavers, rabbits, deer etc.) and also for tests (+ shows!!). All our dogs have damaged their tails after being used for hunting. They wag their tails against bushes and small trees and the tails start to bleed. After damaging their tails over and over again, the only possibility is to operate the dog and cut the tail off. That was done to our oldest bitch, it was suggested by the vet, only due to medical reasons. Those
animal protectors should have seen her!! What is worse and more painful
- docking the tail of a puppy at the age of 3 days or amputating the tail
of a 4 years old adult bitch, after she had damaged her tails numerous
times? Our dogs have also damaged their tails just when wagging the tails
against furniture and walls and boxes at shows. Of course it is not serious,
but it's a bit irritating when their tails are bleeding and surely it
must hurt the dog too, at least a bit? |
| Estonia |
Docking and cropping are prohibited since July 1st, 2001.
Docking is allowed in case it is necessary to prevent injuries (hunting dogs). Nevertheless, the list of hunting dog breeds was only passed by Estonian Kennel Union Council on May 2nd, 2002 and then forwarded to the Ministry of Environment. For this reason, docking is not practiced at the moment. All
docked dogs may be shown on Estonian Kennel Union approved shows. Dogs
with docked tails can be used in breeding without restrictions. We don't
have any statistics regarding tail-injuries in formerly docked breeds.
|
| Finland |
Docking is not allowed, for all breeds. Docked dogs may be shown, if the
dog is born before 1/1/2001, there are no special permissions, even if the
comes from a country, where docking is still allowed. There are no special
regulations for special events, like world shows etc. Breeding from docked
dogs is possible, without restrictions. We have no statistics on dogs with
tail-injuries in our country. |
| France |
It's very difficult to have answers to these questions from the Spaniel
club or the Société Centrale Canine. The only word they tell
about it is: no problem for docking until 2006. For the moment, all is allowed
to crop the ears or dock the tails. |
| Georgia |
There are no bans concerning docking tails and cropping ears in our country
so you can easily realize that all dogs are allowed to the shows without
any restrictions! And I also should mention that there are no moves in favour
of a docking ban in the near future in our country! |
| Germany |
The German government has passed the law for the protection of animals on
25./26. 03.1998, from June 1st 1998 it is forbidden to dock the tails of
dogs - only exceptions are dogs used for hunting, with special regulations.
Since
1st of May 2002 it is forbidden to show dogs with docked tails (docked
after 1st of June 1998) at all German exhibitions. Docked dogs may only
be shown, if they were docked according to the animal protection law (veterinary
indication, exceptions for dogs, which are used for hunting). |
| Gibraltar |
Tail docking is permitted in Gibraltar and it is also permitted to show
dogs that have been docked or cropped in our International shows. |
| Great Britain | The
current position with regard to tail docking in the UK is:
In 1991 the UK Government amended the Veterinary Surgeons Act, prohibiting the docking of dogs' tails by lay persons from July 1,1993. Now only qualified veterinary surgeons are allowed to dock. In November 1992, following the Government move, the Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons ruled docking to be unethical except for therapeutic reasons, this however does not make docking illegal and some veterinary surgeons are still willing to perform the operation. The official statement of the Kennel Club reads: "The docking of dogs' tails is an operation which may now only be legally performed by a veterinary surgeon. In view of the fact that docking is lawful the decision concerning docking is one that rests with breeders and their veterinary advisers. The Kennel Club allows customarily docked breeds to be shown with or without their tails being docked and the Breed Standards issued by the Kennel Club indicate this." All
the breed standards for the customarily docked breeds carry a description
of how the dog should look whether docked or undocked. |
| Greece |
In Greece docking of tails is allowed without any restrictions. At least
98 % of the customarily docked breeds are docked. There are no moves towards
a docking ban in the near future. |
| Iceland | Docking is banned since November 2001, there are no exceptions, and this law is for all breeds. Docked dogs can be shown without any restrictions. |
| Ireland | Tail-docking
is perfectly legal in Ireland. Breeders can still dock, and I'm certain
that a vet can. Many vets are refusing to do it, though. There are no serious
moves to try to stop it as far as I know. |
| Italy |
We have no laws in Italy, concerning tail docking and cropped ears. |
| Lithuania |
Tail-docking is permitted in our country. There are no moves in favour of
a docking ban in the near future. In our shows all dogs with tails and with
docked tails in all breeds can be exhibited. |
| Netherlands |
Tail docking is prohibited for all breeds since 1st of September 2001.
Docked dogs may only be shown if the dog was born before 1st of September 2001. A dog from abroad, either imported or coming over for the show, and from a country where there is no docking ban can be shown when it was born before 1.9.2001. Born after 1.9.2001 and docked it cannot be shown no matter where it comes from.There were exceptions only for the World Winner due to the fact that this legislation came into effect after opening of the entry. Docked
dogs may be bred from without any restrictions. It
is allowed to breed from a docked dog. Some club have rules that before
breeding a dog must be shown once or twice, that will be a problem in
the future. |
| Norway |
Tail-docking is banned for all breeds in Norway.
Docked dogs may only be shown, if they have been imported before 1. 1. 2000, docked dogs, whose owners live in a country were docking is permitted, may not be shown either. There are no special regulations for world shows etc. It is allowed to breed from docked dogs without restrictions. Do
you know of statistics on dogs with tail-injuries from formerly docked
breeds? No, but I am very much involved with the spaniel club, and know
that it has not been a big problem. Just now the spaniel club is doing
a big survey asking everybody that have bred or bought a cocker (during
the last 5 years) what problems they have had with the dogs, asking everything
from toilet training, how it is with kids and so on, how often they have
seen the vet, and the reason for seeing him. So hopefully by the end of
the year we can get some results, and also see which lines have the most
problems. |
| Poland |
Docking is permitted without any restrictions.
The situation is quite strange, because there is a law, which says, that any kind of surgical intervention on animals taken for other than health reason is prohibited, but no restrictions are taken and this law is actually not in use. At the shows you can show docked and undocked dogs, no matter what kind of show it is. At
the moment there are no signals of moves towards a docking ban, but considering
joining EU in the future, maybe we will face such a problem. Anyway, there
is group of breeders, who vote for docking possibility for at least working
dogs. |
| Portugal |
Tail
docking is allowed in the breeds whose approved standards require docking.
Portugal signed the European Convention on Cruelty Against Animals, but
made a reserve clause on the tail-docking ban issue. |
| Romania |
In Romania, docking is allowed without any restrictions and hopefully will
remain so for as long as possible. As far as I know there are no moves in
favour of a docking ban in my country. |
| Russia |
Docking allowed without restrictions |
| Switzerland |
The docking of ears and tails has been banned in Switzerland for some years.
There are only exceptions for medical reasons. Docking is banned for all
breeds.
At the moment legally docked dogs may be shown. From 1st of June 2002 no docked dogs may be imported. If docked dogs are imported after this date, they are not registered in the Schweizerische Hundestammbuch (Swiss Kennel Club registration book) - for the registration the owner must proof, that the imported dog is undocked. It is allowed to take docked dogs into the country for short stays (holidays, exhibitions) or during travelling through the country. For
dogs imported before 1st of June 2002 there are no restrictions re breeding,
docked dogs imported after this date are not registered and therefore
cannot be bred from. |
| Slovakia | The
tail docking is allowed without any restriction in Slovak Republic, so it
is not banned for any breed and any breeder. And we do not know about any
movement trying to ban tail-docking. |
| Slovenia |
In Slovenia we have the Animal Protection Law in which is specially mentioned,
that the tail docking is permitted in pure breed dogs. The veterinary doctor
makes the operation up to age 5 days.
In Slovenia all dogs with docked tails are able to enter all shows. At the moment I don't know of any moves in favour of a docking ban in the near future. In the mentioned law docking tails is prohibited in not pure breed dogs. |
| Spain |
At the moment, there are no restrictions concerning tail docking in Spain. |
| Sweden |
Tail docking has been banned by law for all breeds since 1989. Originally one could show dogs docked in Sweden for medical reasons with a veterinary attest but this isn't possible any more. It is allowed to show docked dogs imported from other countries or owned by exhibitors, who live in a country, where tail-docking is still permitted. One can breed from docked dogs without limitations. At
the moment there are no laws which ban the showing of docked dogs, but
in the future - who knows. |
| Ukraine |
Docking allowed without restrictions |
| Yugoslavia |
Tail docking is permitted without any restrictions. There will be no chance of a docking ban in the near future. I have visited Generally Secretary of Yugoslav Kennel Club, and I was informed that all breeds can be shown now and in the future docked or undocked, it is just up to the owner. |