Media Release from New Zealand Council of Docked Breeds Sunday 5th November 2006

Landmark Decision In Australian “Cruelty Case” Augurs Well For New Zealand Pro-Docking Dog Owners

The New Zealand Council of Docked Breeds is jubilant with reports from Australia on Friday of the dismissal of a case of dog cruelty against a pedigree dog breeder. In dismissing the matter, being prosecuted by the RSPCA, the magistrate stated that in his view banding was “NOT CRUELTY”. The decision is supported by the fact that there remains no scientific evidence to suggest that the banding of dogs’ tails is cruel.

A report from DogsNSW, who arranged representation for the case, advises that they are unsure what, if any action the RSPCA intends to take as in the view of the judge, “it would be hard to argue that it would be cruel to band dogs when millions of sheep in NSW are banded yearly”.

Karen McIntyre, Chair of the NZCDB, hopes that New Zealand MP’s take on board this decision when the time comes to vote on the proposed Animal Welfare (Restriction on Docking of Dog’s Tails) Bill. McIntyre states “there already exists legislation to prosecute owners/breeders if authorities considered that the docking of a dog’s tail has been performed in a cruel manner – NZCDB would support such action and abhors any act of cruelty against animals. Again, we question why the country needs to waste taxpayer’s money and MP’s time with legislation against a procedure that since before the Middle Ages, has been considered an appropriate animal husbandry practice in dogs, as well as other animals.”

Prior to the close of submissions in 2005, the NZCDB distributed CD copies of the banding procedure to all MP’s. It illustrated that banding is non-invasive, the puppies suffered no pain or discomfort and it is clearly “not cruel”. Banding is the method endorsed by the NZCDB and is the accepted practice of the Accredited Dockers Scheme administered by the New Zealand Kennel Club.

Ends

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