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Dogs are Wagging their Tails Amendments to Tail Docking Laws in Victoria RSPCA Victoria welcomes legislative amendments currently before the Victorian parliament to tighten existing laws around the cruel and unnecessary practice of docking a dog's tail. The existing laws have been in place since 2004, however the amendments further protects dogs from this cruel practice. After many years of submissions and pleadings by the RSPCA and the Australian Veterinary Association, the government agreed to ban the cosmetic tail docking of dogs from April 2004. In a national campaign launched in December 2000, the RSPCA described dogs with docked tails as ‘fashion victims’. The new legislation is called the Animals Legislation Amendment [Animal Care] Bill 2007 and inserts a new section into the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986. The new section will make it an offence for a person in charge of an animal to allow a prohibited procedure [tail docking and debarking] to be carried out on the animal. It will also make it an offence to show or exhibit or allow another person to show or exhibit an animal on which a prohibited procedure has been carried out. Tail docking is not a written requirement for any breed and was only done as a matter of tradition and fashion. Dogs being shown or exhibited will all have their tails intact. As more dogs of docked breeds will be shown or exhibited with tails, the community and show judges acceptance of tails will improve over time. The RSPCA applauds the Victorian Government and the Agriculture Minister, Joe Helper, for this decision. You can support the new legislation by writing to the:
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