1) you forget that "scissors" is a general term that includes everything from nubby little sewing scissors to the powerful kitchen scissors that one uses to cut apart chickens.
2) the puppies were 1 day old when docked, meaning that the docking occurred well before the tails would have finished calcifying and before full development of the nerves
3) the docking was discovered a month after the fact and not due to any medical complications. from the sounds of it, someone merely told the authorities that she had broken the law.
4) punishing the breeder does nothing to alleviate the fact that everyone buying her puppies wanted a docked tail. there really ought to be a companion law that demands people owning docked animals to pay an annual fee. it wouldn't hard to enforce, since docked animals are readily identified and it would be easy enough to create certificates just like those given out with rabies vaccines. it would also generate a continual source of revenue for the government as opposed to the expense associated with putting a 50 yr-old woman in jail.
5) I cannot believe the lack of sympathy that you guys have for an older woman who has just lost all rights to her pets. How many of you were perfect fish-keepers when you first showed up here? Did you realize that neon tetras should live for 10 years or that iridescent sharks grow to be 3 feet long? It's the same principle here. Up until last year, it was considered an acceptable practice to dock puppies. This woman just didn't get the memo. And now she's being excoriated and losing her pets and you can't have one once of sympathy for her?! Most of you even pity hoarders, who by definition cannot take care of their animals and allow them to wallow neglected in filth. Look at that puppy. Except for the missing tail (which is even docked properly), he looks perfectly healthy. Remember, if these puppies were being sold as "working dogs", then these charges would not even have been brought.
6) I support the ban on cosmetic docking. Full stop. But have an ounce of concern for the otherwise loving and caring owners who will inevitably be prosecuted and lose their pets because they didn't understand that your government meant business about this. It's going to take several years for people to understand that docked puppies are not going to be sold any more. Until that understanding permeates even to people buying their very first dog, there's going to be economic pressure on breeders to dock. And there will be breeders caving to that pressure.
Remember, if docking was actually horrific and brutal, then it would be considered animal cruelty in all cases without exception. But it's not. The dangers and pain associated with docking are debatable and little can be proven by either side. The most convincing argument against it is that dogs that have been docked are problematic to socialize with other dogs due to impaired body language. There is little to counter that argument, except to argue safety and worry about potential adult amputation of working dogs' tails (which is actually dangerous and definitely leads to chronic pain). Thus, docking for cosmetic reasons is unjustified and docking for functional reasons is still debatable.
/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/6989969.stm
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I could never bring myself to cut a puppy's tail using a pair of scissors or anything else for that matter!
