Tail Docking Dairy Cattle

By Marlene Halverson

Tail docking of dairy cattle, or amputating half or more of the cow's tail, first became a routine practice among dairy farmers in New Zealand. Today, it is also practiced in Australia and Ireland and is becoming routine on an increasing number of North American dairy farms.

The procedure is banned in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

The purpose of the tail is to ensure a cow's well-being. Marlene Halverson/AWI	Tail docking is both painful and debilitating. Marlene Halverson/AWI

Tail docking is a mutilation and causes injury to the animal. Generally, it is performed on an unanesthetized animal. In one to two day old calves, a tourniquet may be applied to the tail before amputating with scissors. In some cases, heated scissors are used to cauterize the stump simultaneously with cutting. In 6-8 week old calves, an emasculator (used in crushing testicles during castration of male calves) is used to crush the tail, and then the tail may be cut off below the crushed area. In heifers and grown cattle, tail docking usually involves applying a tight rubber ring around the tail. The rubber ring reduces oxygen to the tail below the ring. The necrotic tail below the rubber ring may be amputated with pruning shears or it may be left to fall off. In addition to the acute pain inflicted at the time of docking, there is the potential for chronic pain due to neuroma (a tumor composed of nerve tissue that forms at the injury site) formation in the docked stump. Similarly, human amputees have described pain, itching, or discomfort in the limbs they no longer have; a condition referred to as "phantom limb."

Though it has been assumed that dirty tails can contaminate udders, increasing the incidence of mastitis (a painful disease of the udder) and reducing milk purity, research shows that areas of the body where cows become soiled with manure do not closely correspond with areas reached by intact tails.

The tail is an important tool for protecting the cow from flies. Research shows that docked cows spend considerably more time than intact cows in fly avoidance behavior and that inability to swat flies results in greater fly numbers on docked versus intact cows. Docked cows stand more than intact cows as fly numbers increase, possibly indicating that docked cows are uncomfortable, as cows tend to stand when they are uncomfortable because cows have a biological need to lie down 9-14 hours each day in order to ruminate efficiently and produce milk. Fly avoidance behavior can disturb rumination and milk production. Fly avoidance behaviors also disturb grazing. Research has further indicated that cows use tail postures in signaling to other cows. Without a tail, the cow is deprived of this method of communication.

Cows rely on the endowments nature has given them for survival and for well-being. We have choices they do not have when it comes to designing housing systems and tailoring husbandry practices. Our choices should embrace both the integrity and well-being of these animals. Tail docking is not a universal practice in the North American dairy industry yet, and some dairy farmers would never think of docking their cows' tails. For them, tails are indispensable parts of the cows' anatomy both practically and aesthetically.

Full article and citations to references used in this article are available here: www.awionline.org/farm/taildockdairy.pdf.