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Do puppies feel pain?
There follows a letter from Prof. Dr. R. Fritsch, Leader of the Clinic of Veterinary Surgeons, Justus-Lieberg-University, to
the German Kennel Club.
Quote
I have been asked by the German Kennel Club to give a professional opinion on the following questions:
Will the removal of the tail and dew claws without anaesthetic on a four day old puppy, cause considerable pain?
Is it necessary from the veterinary point of view, to shorten the tail or amputate the dew claws of certain breeds of
dogs?
The docking of tails and the removal of dew claws in puppies less than 4 days old without anaesthetic, is not connected
with any serious pain in such a way that it cannot be allowed from the point of view of the protection of animals.
The reason for this is (**there are two expressions in German for which there is no English equivalent): "Nestfluchter"
which means a young bird or young animal which very soon will leave its nest or its mother and therefore will have to
find its own food; and "Nesthockern" which means a young animal that stays for a long time in the nest with its mother
and is fed by her) the new born puppy belongs to the Nesthockern, in contrast with the horse, cow, sheep, pig and goat
which are regarded as Nestfluchter.
The animals in the Nesthockern group are born relatively immature, completely naked, blind, deaf, very immobile and
very helpless. Their nervous system at birth is not even fully developed. There are still cell divisions in the brain and
some of the nervous threads are not fully developed. In psychological tests, it has been determined that the time
between the nervous impulse and reaction (chronaxie) takes 3-4 times longer than it would in an adult. After about 10-
14 days, when the animals eyes are opened (until then it has been more like an embryo) it is possible to determine the
normal value of the impulse. In 1941, Volkhov determined that animals, at this period of life, had very little feeling of
pain. The conscious feeling of pain is still not very likely at that age.
Schmidker wrote in his doctorate in 1951 about the feeling of pain in new-born puppies: "Incomplete development of
the nervous system at the time of birth and the very high chronaxie value in connection with the fact that the animal is
not able to react effectively to pain, gives us every reason to believe that the actual feeling of pain is very low in the
new-born of this group of mammals (dogs). In other words, at this age and biological condition, it would have no
absolute meaning to talk about pain". You therefore do not have to worry or fear that the dog will be made to suffer
pain or psychological pain, if the tail has been docked or the dew claws removed, in the first few days after birth.
It is completely different though, with the Nestfluchter (animals which leave their nest or mother just after birth). In
these animals, the nervous system id fully developed just after the moment of birth. All senses that serve to get rid of
enemies and pain are fully developed. One can neither from physiological knowledge nor from just observation, say
that these young animals feel a lot less pain than adults.
It would therefore be a contradiction in the law, for the Protection of Animals, to permit the shortening or docking of
tails in pigs and lambs without anaesthetic, because they have fully developed threshold of pain, and , at the same
time, forbid the docking of dogs. It is absolutely certain that the docking of tails on small lambs and pigs and also the
castration of young pigs, goats and calves during their first days of life, will cause considerable pain if done without an
anaesthetic. However, from the point of view of the docking of dogs, whose nervous system is not fully developed
during the first few days of life, is completely acceptable from the point of view of the protection of animals.
The removal of dew claws is necessary in order to avoid later damages and illnesses. It is also recommended to dock
the tails inbreeds which have long thin, weak and sparsely coated tails, in order to avoid later sickness and damage. At
the same time tails should be docked in breeds that are used in such a way that there is a risk of injury to a tail e.g.
hunting dogs. It is beneficial to avoid painful; injuries and therefore in the interest of the PREVENTION OF CRUELTY to
animals.
The dew claw is the rudimentary first toe. They are often injured and the nail can grow into the skin causing
considerable inflammation. The dog can easily catch them on different objects because they just hang on the side of
their paws a non-functioning objects and can therefore damage themselves quite seriously. It is therefore in the
interests of the law to recommend that these claws are removed as early as possible. Their removal is best done in the
first week with a little clip with scissors.
The dogs tail on the other hand, whether it be in kennels or around the home, is in constant danger of damage by
being hit against hard objects like walls, fences, tables, chair legs, radiators and of being trapped in doors. These
injuries usually result in sores at the tip of the tail, which do not heal well because there is a poor blood circulation in
this part of the tail.
By licking and chewing, the dog makes the condition worse and the skin and tissue will die. These conditions of
necrosis of the tip of the tail is often seen in Great Danes and Dalmatians. German Shepherds are also often seen in
veterinary surgeries.
This can sometimes be treated with partial amputation but secondary problems can occur in the healing process
because the very poor blood supply is not conducive to this. This actually makes it necessary to amputate the tail
several times before the healing process is achieved.
Hunting dogs are in great danger of damaging their tails when thrashing through thick undergrowth and young forest.
Only tails that are thick and covered with long hair are protected, such as those of the wolf and fox.
Apart from the dangers that the dog is constantly confronted with in the human environment (as well as the fact that
they have less hair than the wild dog) many breeds have a very lively temperament which often cause tail tip damage in
the course of their exuberance, e.g. an undocked Boxer will constantly be subject to injury when using its tail when he
expresses happiness.
As far as the behaviour of dogs is concerned, I cannot see that their ability to express happiness should in any way be
altered by the docking of the tail.
From the veterinary point of view, therefore, there is absolutely no reason why the banning of the docking of dogs tails
should be beneficial to them. In actual fact, it would be detrimental to their well-being if docking was abolished. Tail
docking protects the dog as it is done to avoid problems with tail injuries and subsequent painful treatment that would
often occur.
It is called Prevention!!
End of Quote
** Since its publication, we have been asked to point out that there are English equivalents for these terms:
Nestfluchter = precocial
Nesthockern = altricial