Tail Docking and Dew Claw Removal Update.
The I.W.T.F Committee has been in discussion with the Department of Agriculture,Food and the Marine for the last 6 months in relation to Tail Docking and Dewclaw Removal for working terriers. We have provided the Department with 2 submissions for review and attended meetings to outline the practical welfare implications for working terriers.
The first submission detailed the working breed /strains used in the field today and the reasons why and how terriers are protected from more severe injury by these minor actions when they are born.
The second submission was prompted by reports that the Scottish Government had commissioned a report from the Glasgow University Veterinary School. The I.W.T.F. obtained a Draft copy of this report which is under peer review. While this report has the potential to reverse the total ban in Scotland, it appeared to fall short in it’s approach to working terriers. We believed that this needed to be addressed head on.
The I.W.T.F. committee has been requested to make a presentation before a Joint Oireachtas Committee for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Leinster House next week to state the case for I.W.T.F. terriermen. Both submissions have been forwarded to the Joint committee in preparation for this meeting. Members can download these submissions here.
02 – IWTF Interim Report on Tail Docking & Dewclaw Removal – 26 July 2012 03 – IWTF Submission in Response to the Scottish Survey – 25 October 2013We will update members as matters progress.
