Happy ending to this puppy’s “tail”
Owner faces criminal charges after mutilating puppy
A resident from Helderkruin is facing criminal charges of animal cruelty, after he docked his four-month-old Rottweiler puppy’s tail to make the dog “look buff”.
A concerned neighbour heard the puppy yelping, and upon investigation, saw that there was an elastic band tied around its tail. “The owner was asked who put the elastic band there and why. The owner said that he wanted the puppy’s tail to fall off,” said Mandy Cattanach, the manager of the Roodepoort SPCA.
Although the band was removed after the neighbour explained that it was cruel, painful and against the law, the neighbour reported the case to the SPCA.
Senior Inspector Eric Taljaard investigated the complaint, and upon arrival at the house in question, found that the puppy’s tail had been hacked off by the owner. “I immediately took the puppy to our veterinary hospital for treatment. I also opened a criminal case at the Roodepoort Police against the owner,” Taljaard said.
Cattanach said that according to section 21A of the Animal Protection Act 71 of 1962, tail docking (cutting off a dog’s tail), ear cropping or any other form of surgical alteration of an animal is illegal, except for medical reasons. “Not even a veterinarian is allowed to perform these types of procedures,” she said.
A dog’s tail is an integral part of its anatomy, as it is used for balance and communication. “A dog uses its tail to express feelings, for instance, when happy the tail will wag, when erect it is alert and when between its legs, the dog is scared,” Cattanach said.
The tail is also part of the dog’s spine, so, in essence, when the tail is docked, part of the spine is removed. “In this case, the owner tied elastic around the pup’s tail and used a sharp instrument to cut it off. He just left the wound like that, which could have resulted in an infection in the spine causing the dog’s death,” an angry Cattanch said.
But, not all of these stories have a happy ending. “This little one was one of the lucky ones. If we hadn’t been alerted to the incident, he might have died. He is also lucky in the sense that there is already a new home lined up for him,” she said.
Cattanach said that, although it is a very common practice among naive and uneducated people to crop ears and dock tails, there is no reason to mutilate an animal just to look good or to make the owner happy. “It is unnecessary and painful to the animal,” Taljaard added.
“Do not mutilate any animals, or amputate any part of their body. The SPCA will prosecute you, and the person who performed the mutilation. Should anyone see a case of tail docking, ear cropping or any other form of animal cruelty, they should report it to us immediately,” she concluded.
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