The
Bobtail Trait in Australian Shepherds – Part I:
A
Historical Perspective and Docking Regulations in Various Countries
by
Gemi Sasson-Brickson
Reprinted from the March-April 2005 Aussie Times, with permission.
©2005-2010 - Imagineer/Gemini Sasson-Brickson
All Rights reserved. All photographs and narratives from this web site are
copyrighted and can only be reproduced with written permission from the author.
(This is the first of a three part series on the Bobtail Trait in Australian Shepherds, written as an informative background piece in relation to the ongoing ‘Study on the Inheritance of the Natural Bobtail in Australian Shepherds’. This article addresses the historical perspective of the NBT and docking regulations in various countries.)
A couple of years ago, the topic
of natural bobtails arose on an Australian Shepherd internet discussion list. Written information on bobtail inheritance supported by
documented scientific studies in any breed of dog was scanty and as pertains to
the Aussie in particular, it was non-existent.
And so, being a former laboratory researcher who used to spend hours upon
hours bent over rows of beakers, counting results and analyzing data, I decided
to generate the data myself. With
assistance from fellow Aussie breeders, I have set out to answer several
questions regarding natural bobtails and tail length in our breed.
First and foremost, how is the gene inherited?
Secondly, does the presence of the gene have any effect on neonatal
health or litter size? Lastly, what
impact might docking bans in various countries have on the gene pool of the
breed?
One distinguishing trait of the
Australian Shepherd breed is the naturally occurring bobtail.
Any dog born with anything less than a full-length tail technically has a
natural bobtail (NBT). In Australian Shepherds, the mode of inheritance
for this trait is presently unknown. Some Aussies are born with full
tails, some with none at all and others with partial tails. Besides
Australian Shepherds, several other breeds of dogs also have naturally occurring
bobtails: the Welsh Bobtail, the Catahoula Leopard Dog, the Rat Terrier, the Old
English Sheepdog, the Pyrenean Shepherd, the Swedish Vallhund and the Pembroke
Welsh Corgi.
Quite often, the founders of the
breed selected for that uniqueness and many old-time photos of early Aussies
show bob-tailed dogs. Looking
further back than the history of our own breed, several strains of naturally
bobtailed ‘Cur’ breeds existed in medieval Britain - these included dogs
used for hunting as well as herding. At
one time in Britain, the tails of working dogs, such as that of the Old English
Sheepdog, were docked to identify them for exemption from taxation.
In the U.S., where the Australian Shepherd was primarily developed,
different reasons exist as to why the tails of Australian Shepherds, if not a
naturally very short, are docked. Perhaps
the main reason is for practicality – a dog with a long, hairy tail, gathering
cattle from the brush, stands a very good chance of collecting burrs and various
prickly weeds in that tail, and even feces, thus producing a grooming nightmare
for the rancher or farmer who does not have idle hours in his already busy day
to remove mats. This is also why
many breeds of hunting dogs, who typically work in heavy brush, such as some
spaniel or pointer breeds, have docked tails.
More serious than grooming concerns are injuries.
Sometimes, these injuries require medical attention, surgery and if
severe enough – removal of the tail. Obviously,
less trauma is involved in docking the tail of a newborn pup, than in performing
major surgery on an adult dog. Dogs
with longer tails that actively work do occasionally suffer contusions or
lacerations to the tail area or fractures of the vertebra in the tail.
Even pet dogs have incurred injuries to the tail through normal activity,
such as wagging their tails too vigorously, or accident.
As a child I owned a Chihuahua that had her tail run over by a Corvette.
Although her tail was splinted to help it heal, she did end up with a
very odd looking tail that was plumper at the base and skinny and bald at the
end.
The premise of this study on
tail-length inheritance in Australian Shepherds has never been to adopt any kind
of a political or ethical stand on whether or not to dock; that decision belongs
to individuals and the registries and governing bodies that they have chosen to
represent them and to institute their rules and laws.
However, both sides of the spectrum do bear mentioning at some point,
primarily so that breeders and owners of Aussies around the world can understand
the basis of some of these issues. Is
it unnecessary, unethical and inhumane to dock the tails of puppies only a few
days old? Or are there practical
reasons for doing so and this option is a right that should be protected?
Although initially, I set out to conduct a purely scientific study, the
questions that arose while collecting information merited a closer investigation
of issues germane to the topic of natural bobtails.
In the United States, docking is
a common practice in the breed, since both the ASCA and AKC breed standards call
for a naturally-occurring or docked tail of 4” or less. Some countries, however, do not permit the docking of any
breed. Others allow only
hunting breeds to be docked, but not others.
So why do these differences exist and what brought various docking bans
into place?
In 1987, the European Convention
for the Protection of Pet Animals was signed by the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece,
Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland.
Additional countries have since signed on. It became effective five years later. Essentially, this directive was designed to protect the
welfare of pet animals by outlining the minimal standards of humane treatment
for them. Not only does it advocate
that pets shall not suffer unnecessarily at the hands of humans through either
abuse or neglect, but it also, in effect, assigns humans as guardians of
animals. The Convention
forbids breeding for characteristics of anatomy, physiology or behavior (such as
aggression) that may place an animal’s health at risk.
It also prohibits surgeries such as tail docking, ear cropping, debarking
and declawing, unless a veterinarian deems such a procedure to be
necessary for medical reasons. In
1998, Germany passed the Animal Protection Act, which addressed the same issues
as in the European Convention but in more detail.
It banned the docking of tails, with the exception of dogs used in
hunting, as the tail docking has been deemed functional for the purpose of
hunting breeds. Four years later,
docked dogs could no longer be shown in Germany.
It should be noted that such bans do not necessarily extend to livestock.
Sheep’s tails are still routinely docked in most countries.
So who can import docked dogs? While some countries have no restrictions at all on importing docked dogs, residents of certain countries can no longer import dock-tailed individuals. In some countries where docking has been banned, when a docked dog is imported, it is prohibited from being exhibited in various venues, but may still be used in a breeding program, thus ensuring the infusion of fresh material into the gene pool periodically. That was the case in the Netherlands a few years ago; however, rules were changed and one can now show a docked, imported dog, so long as it came from a country where docking is legally allowed. Finland does allow the importation of a docked dog if it was born before a certain date. For more details on laws within certain countries, you may check the web sites listed at the end of this article.
So who can’t dock tails and are there any restrictions on the breeding of two natural bobtail parents? In many European countries, such as Germany, Sweden and Norway, laws prohibit breeders from having tails docked. In the Czech Republic, Australia and the U.K., only vets may perform docking and there are no restrictions on importing docked dogs; however, ear cropping has been completely banned in the U.K. for quite some time. In the Czech Republic, one of the breed clubs does prohibit the breeding of two natural bobtail parents together, yet another has no such restrictions in place. In Germany, it is simply not done as some breeders, including those of Australian Shepherds there, believe such crosses may produce an increased risk of spinal defects… however, Pembroke Welsh Corgi breeders there have done so, following the efforts of a Scandinavian study on the bobtail in PWC’s, and the foundation of that premise will be inspected in my next article.
In response to the growing
movement of the banning of tail docking, in 1991 the Council of Docked Breeds (CDB)
was formed in the United Kingdom. In
the U.K., docking cannot be performed by breeders themselves and not all vets
will do the procedure, because the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons opposes
the docking of dogs. The British
government, however, has avoided passing legislation on the matter by deferring
the issue to the Kennel Club and individual veterinarians.
For those Americans who believe
that the anti-tail-docking movement does not exist in North America, the
Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR) publicly opposes
tail-docking, ear-cropping and debarking as being unnecessary and cosmetic.
Furthermore, the AVAR suggests that breed standards be changed to allow
for undocked animals. Please bear
in mind that the AVAR is by no means the only veterinary association in the
United States or even the predominant one.
It merely represents one faction of the veterinary world in the U.S. that
possesses a certain set of ideals. While
this view of docking among vets may be in the minority in the U.S., that however
is not necessarily the case in other countries, as mentioned above.
Laws
abroad are constantly changing and opinions on how we view our companion animals
are very diverse as well. Hopefully,
the topics contained within this article will have proven both thought-provoking
and informative. Future articles
will contain information on
genetics and health in regard to the natural bobtail trait, and the contents and
mission of the NBT study in Aussies, as well as some preliminary findings.
While many readers in docking countries may not feel this issue pertains to them at all, it does indeed pertain to the breed as a whole. If we are to keep this breed as one and preserve it, we must understand the issues that Aussie breeders everywhere are faced with and commit to helping each other towards a better end.
For details on the Study of
the Inheritance of the Natural Bobtail in Australian Shepherds, go to:
http://www.dnaco.net/~imgnr/nbt_study.htm.
Until next time,
Gemi Sasson-Brickson, M.S. Biology
Pertinent web sites:
Council of Docked Breeds: http://www.cdb.org/index.htm
European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals : http://www.animallaw.info/treaties/itceceets125.htm
International Comparative Animal Cruelty Laws: http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusicacl.htm#IIIB