Since September, Progressive Dairyman has asked its readers “Should routine tail docking be an approved animal care standard on dairy farms?” Based upon the responses and comments we received, there are three main schools of thought on the issue. Nearly 40 percent of respondents said “No.” They are opposed to the practice of tail docking and do not believe the practice should continue on dairy farms.

Lee karen
Managing Editor / Progressive Dairy

That leaves roughly 60 percent who said, “Yes.” Some people in this group currently engage in this practice and cite the benefits they see of cleaner cows with relatively little pain or stress from the procedure.

Others in the “yes” group may or may not be opposed to the practice but voted yes because they want the ability to choose whether or not to dock tails without it being regulated.

Greg Andersen wrote, “I’d prefer to defend each producer’s independence and freedom to make operation decisions.”

John Temme expressed concern that a move like this would invite changes to other farm practices. He wrote, “Conceding rights is a slippery slope. If we give this up, what other rights will follow?”

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Clearly, Wayne Pacelle and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) are watching, as indicated by Pacelle’s blog post published in the Nov. 1, 2012 issue of Progressive Dairyman . ( Click here to view the article) But does this mean dairy producers need to change?

Should the dairy industry negotiate on the demands of animal rights organizations to avoid future political battles? If it came down to a vote, where would the general public stand on this issue?

Two years ago, we published the results of a similar survey conducted by Drs. Dan Weary and Marina von Keyserlingk, professors at the University of British Columbia . They had a total of 192 people respond to the survey. Of that, 30 percent were producers and another 45 percent came from within the industry, but the remaining 25 percent said they had no experience with dairy.

Most (79 percent) of the people who responded did not support tail docking, 6 percent of respondents supported the practice and 5 percent were undecided. This survey did allow people to vote more than once – but if duplicate votes are removed, 82 percent did not support docking. If only the producer vote is considered, they found that 64 percent do not support docking.

It is interesting that these two polls came to different conclusions. Without a clear consensus in the industry, it is hard to determine the right course of action. PD

Poll results for graph:
Should routine tail docking be an approved animal care standard on dairy farms?

Yes – 63 percent
No – 37 percent

YES!
First: Three cheers for Keith’s response to Kozak’s column. He didn’t use a lot of words to tell it like it really is. I wish everyone that eats meat and relies on animal byproducts could see through the B.S.! It’s just too bad that most of the time we are preaching to the choir.

I do not routinely dock, but I have and will continue when needed. I milk in a tie stall barn. If a cow makes a habit of making the gutter a soupy mess and covers the cow on each side, herself, the barn and the workers, I fix the problem.

Anyone that feels the “practice of tail docking benefits neither cows nor workers” has not milked cows or worked on a dairy farm and actually seen and felt the problem first hand.

Cleaner cows = happier milker = happier cows. I also have a milk inspector who doesn’t like dirty cows any more than I do, but she doesn’t like docking either. She doesn’t milk cows, and I don’t know if she ever has.

If she did, what would she do? Tucking the tail does not work 24/7. I once had a calf that would suck her own tail down her throat making her vomit. Guess how that problem got fixed.

My answer is: Yes. Organizations that do not want animal agriculture, along with thousands of people that do not understand the management decisions that must be made, should not be allowed a foothold!

—Al from Illinois