Your are right too, we do castrate so I stand corrected on that point.

Testicles?
Dew claws?

Bridgett says: How many poor neurotic border collies are out there as house pets rather than herding?

I don’t know but plenty are compeating in obedience and agility. This is the reason why people should do thier research on the different breeds before they buy/adopt a dog.

As far as tails are conserned, there are plenty of dogs available with tails. If you oppose docking choose a breed with a tail. Many breeds carry a gene for a natural bob, although rare, it does exist.

My exact thoughts. Purebreed dogs rarely do what they were designed to do. How many poor neurotic border collies are out there as house pets rather than herding? German sheperds, pets, setters, pets, etc.

I totally agree that these practices are archaic, no longer needed and are inhumane. They should be banned.

My thinking is, if God put it there ie tails, ears, claws, they are there for a reason.

People set breed standards & people can change them. I have an English-based book of dog breeds–their dobie has ears & a tail! And ear cropping–are you fighting your dogs? Almost none of our dogs are used for the original purposes now, and most of the original reasons for docking & cropping are pointless now. Many European countries don’t allow this & still have breed standards & shows. The bottom line is it’s an archaic artifact that the AKC hangs on to that should be banned–the time has come.

It’s complicated and it’s not one size fits all. To understand this you would have to study the history of each of these breeds. You would have to know where they were developed to work (terrain, climate etc) and what kind of work they were developed to do as well as the tail carriage and type of coat. So yes, it can be the same job but done in a different area which has an impact. For instance, a gun dog that has to go into heavy brush with burrs to retrieve, the tail probably was a detriment and often injured. A water retriever like a lab needs his thick tail to use as a rudder. The poodle’s tail is thin and does not help with swimming. It probably got frostbitten a lot. The foofy poodle cut we see in the show ring also has a historical purpose. The coat was trimmed as not to weigh the poodle down in water but the coat was left on the joints to keep them insulated. An Old English sheepdog was probably docked for hygiene. Farmers didn’t go around cleaning poopy butts. They docked the sheep and the sheep dogs to keep them clean. These are just a few exmples.

As to docking tails & ears–a number of European countries have banned or are in the process of banning one or both of these & they have breeds over there too. I don’t understand the job thing–german shorthaired pointers are docked but english pointers not, yet they do the same dang job. Spaniels docked, setters not. poodles docked, labs not. Some shepherds docked, some not–same jobs different breeds. Explain please???

Castration as a lazy way of birth control??!!?? Let a female cat go through a bunch of heat cycles without breeding–she will most probably get severe pyrometria & possibly die during the surgery to save here. Female dogs get breast cancer, male dogs higher rates of testicular cancer if not neutered. I do think the shelters push neutering at too early an age, but most people can’t/won’t be careful enough to prevent accidental breeding. Trying to stop a determined intact animal from getting out & seeking a mate is difficult for most people & the home situations the animal is in.

Bridgett says: My mom had her kitty, Monster, declawed. Her paws looked like the vet had cut them off with a paper cutter. No kidding, straight across.
My response is that the vet didn’t know what he was doing. I wouldn’t take a cat to that vet for any treatment if that is indeed what they looked like.

http://www.cdb.org/case4dock.htm#_why
Tail damage, Hygiene and breed standard. Tail docking has everything to do with the function of the breed and the welfare of the dog while performing that function.