Aust Vet J Vol 78, No 3, March 2000206

News Extra

Pomeranians – and daintilylead them around the park, apark to which beggars andother “undesirables” arerefused entry. The servantsavoid eye contact with thoseon the other side of the fenceand pretend not to notice asthe dogs defaecate beneath theswings and urinate on theroses. Their constitutionalover, eight canine feet are fas-tidiously wiped clean, coatsare brushed and the partydeparts in air-conditionedcomfort.The discussion about respon-sible pet ownership in theAustralian veterinary and gen-eral communities continues.Should not we, as a profes-sion, be discussing what levelof pet care is compatible withresponsible global citizenship?As we walk our pamperedpooches through Australia’swell-tended parks, gardensand state forests, do we avoidthe eyes of the developingworld? Do we avert our eyesand pretend that the millionsleft unable to feed their chil-dren, access the most basiceducation, or even purchase alife-saving course of amoxil,are neither our problem norour responsibility?Across a fence (or across cul-tures, nationalities, socioeco-nomic groups or hemispheres)distance may insulate us – butit doesn’t dilute the injusticeof the world nor lessen theobligation inherent in ourprivilege and opportunity.What standard of pet care is“responsible” and what is“immoral”? When does kind-ness to animals become, evenif indirectly, cruelty to people?

Dr Deborah Storie,dstorie@virtual.net.au

Anti-dockingwebsite

IT was wonderful to readyour views on tail docking. I

am very much opposed todocking and believe it is abouttime it was banned. It hasbeen succesfully outlawed inEurope and I would love tosee Australia follow suit.I work as an assistant in a vet-erinary practice and am devel-oping my own anti-dockingwebsite. My parents work inthe Internet industry and arehelping me with the project.When it is finished I wouldlove to hear the views of AVAmembers about the site and itscontents. The main things itwill feature are a video of a vetactually performing a dockingproceedure so that people cansee how it really is done and toshow that the pups do feelpain – contrary to what thepro-dockers say. It will alsohave pictures of dogs frombreeds that have traditionallybeen docked but with theirtails intact – so that peoplecan see what they should looklike. The site will also carryextensive text on the subject.If your members or readershave any suggestions on whatelse I can put on the site thatmight help the anti-dockingcause, I would love to hearthem. Keep up the wonderfulwork and good luck with yourcampaign to win support forthe proposed ACT anti-dock-ing legislation. I will be send-ing my letter to the Ministervery soon and I hope yourmembers can encourage a realflood of mail to help get anofficial ban underway.

Kelly Maher,kelly@smile.com.au

Pups’ tails saved

WE want to express ourgratitude to the AVA

and to Dr Roger Clarke forconvincing us to spare the tailsof our newborn cocker spanielpups from the pointless andpainful process of docking.We are not professional breed-ers but found ourselves in asituation where we discoveredour dogs had becomeextremely friendly! From dis-cussions in our local area, welearned that Dr Clarke hadbeen waging a strong cam-paign against docking formany years and decided toseek his advice on what weshould with our pups. Hemade us aware of the AVA’sstrong stance against dockingas an utterly unnecessary –and unjustifiable – mutilationof a dog.When our eight pups wereborn we were amazed at howgorgeous they were, especiallyhow their natural tails madethem even more attractivethan the “modified” versionswhich most people now mis-takenly believe are true cockerspaniels. We are now totalconverts to the anti-dockingcause. It has been a great lifeexperience for us – helping togive birth to these puppies andhelping to nurture them.These past few weeks havebeen wonderful for us to shareand we have been given mem-ories that will last us forever.We are frantically taking pho-tographs of the pups at everyopportunity so we can con-vince other people what beau-tiful animals they are. Mostpeople think cocker spanielsare beautiful anyway, but wecan now show those who areunaware that this breed hastraditionally been mutilated atbirth just how adorable theyare when they are allowed tokeep the tails nature gave

them. We have decided tosend some photos of our litterto Dr Clarke for use in hisimportant anti-docking work.Thanks again to Dr Clarkeand the AVA. Keep up thegood fight – we will do every-thing we can to ensure your“save the tails” message isheard by as many people aspossible.

John and Renea Goebel,Gold Coast, Qld

‘Strange’ US ideaThe anti-docking movement(and anti-ear cropping) isstarting to swell in the US as well as in Australiaand other countries. However,in an October 1999 issue ofthe JAVMA there is a verystrange response from a vet infavour of docking stating thatthere is “no difference betweencosmetic docking and spay-ing”. The letter said:“Why do we support spayingif dogs have ‘more to lose’(their reproductive function)in the operation whereas nofunction is lost with cosmeticdocking”.The writer appears to haveneglected the importance ofspaying and Neutering in controlling thenumbers of unwanted ani-mals. I doubt if docking would lead to less strays.I hope this very strange argu-ment doesn’t enter the presentcampaign.

Diane Ryan BVScDiane.ryan@agric.nsw.gov.au

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CorrespondenceNews items and generalcorrespondence should besubmitted to the ManagingEditor, AVA House, 134-136Hampden Rd, ArtarmonNSW 2064, Australia or POBox 371 Artarmon NSW1570 Australia. Telephone(02) 9411 2733, fax (02)9411 5089, emaileditor@ava.com.au Webaddress www.ava.com.au