Ban Tail Docking on Dogs in Ireland

As a fourth year vet student the thought that this might go ahead terrifies me. I can already imagine all the septic puppies I'll see from botched attempts. You'd have to do it 500 pups to prevent injury in 1; injury which is unlikely to be as serious as the number of septicaemic pups that this is going to result in. This petition is going around my class like wildfire we feel so strongly about it. This cannot be justified. Admittedly castrated ram lambs go through the same thing but there is a significant economic factor to that and the taint to the meat from the testosterones if this was left until later, along with other reasons, makes it necessary, even if I still don't agree. There is simply no need for this. Why should we allow the docking of tails of countless of puppies on the off chance one might end up as a hunting dog when, as vets, we won't allow each other dock the tail of a adult dog going into hunting because we consider it mutilation, and we'd have the pain relief and anaesthesia the to do it!