Physical Harm

Tail Docking in Pigs

Cutting off piglets’ tails to stop them from getting bitten is cheaper than improving conditions

Millions

of piglets¹ have their tails cut off every year without anaesthetic.

64%

of tail-docked pigs develop neuromas, which are associated with long-term nerve pain.³

85%

of UK pig farms still thought to cut off tails even though routine docking is banned.⁴

What It Is

When intelligent, social, curious animals like pigs are forced to live in barren sheds with little room to move and nothing to do, frustration builds. Under these conditions, they sometimes bite each other’s tails. It is a clear sign of stress and boredom. But instead of giving the animals more space, some straw, and some stimulation, the industry has a much better answer: cut off their tails!

The industry prefers the benign term “docking” but it really means “amputating” or “slicing off”, and it is as painful a procedure as you might expect. It involves removing most of a piglet’s tail, usually with pliers or a hot cauterising iron, when they are just a few days old. No anaesthetic is legally required when conducting this mutilation, and not even any pain relief. The wound remains raw and highly sensitive for weeks, with many piglets developing infections.⁵ For some, it can lead to lifelong sensitivity.⁶

Farmers and industry bodies call this mutilation “a necessary management practice” but tail biting is not inevitable; it’s a symptom of the cruel conditions pigs on UK farms are forced to live in.

In 2006, the UK government banned the “routine” tail docking of pigs. Great news! Except, despite it being banned, it is estimated that up to 85 per cent of pigs in the UK still undergo this mutilation. How does the industry get away with it?

Well, the word “routine” functions as an exceptional get-out clause. The law says tail docking must be a last resort, not the first thing the industry tries. But if the conditions on farms make tail-biting inevitable, then nothing will stop tails getting infected except cutting off the tails. (Even then, tail infections are not exactly rare, and are often caused by the tail docking itself.) It is abundantly clear that it is the factory-farm conditions that are the problem.

In one study,⁷ a group of pigs was given a large plot of grassland, while a second group was given a plot of forestry of the same size. One of the most notable results the researchers found was “the almost complete absence of tail injury despite pigs being undocked.” There was just one minor case over the entire eight-week study. This is because the pigs had things to do, places to explore, and earth to root through. It’s not rocket science.