Hello all, I just wanted to know if it is illegal to own a puppy with a docked tail? I ask because I have inherited one! she was found and we've taken her in, I rang round local vets etc to see if anyone had lost her but nothing and it's been a few weeks now.

I have never owned a large breed dog before and have only just learned that docking is illegal AFTER I agreed to take her in, she's a lovely dog but I'd like to take her to the vets and get all her vaccinations done as I doubt they've been done, only problem is am I going to get in trouble as I can't prove where she came from?

I fully accept it was probably my fault for not doing abit of research first but it wasn't until I started looking for info on rotties that I came across it being illegal, I don't want to give her up as she is part of our family now and my children love her but at the same time I don't want to get in trouble for trying to give a good home to an homeless puppy.

Can anyone help? thank you

Have you contacted the local dog warden and police?  When doing so you could mention that she is docked then if nobody claims her and she ends up with you, you can refer to that if anything every comes of it.

Cant see how it can be illegal but know you cant show her if she was born after a certain date when docking became illegal for other than working breeds (dont know the ins and outs) but you could have her vet checked and ask for her to be scanned to see if she is microchipped.
If she isnt lost/ stolen then lucky her for finding a loving home.

Travellers breed dogs and sell them in the local papers usually by mobile phone (from what I have heard) so she probably comes from them and isnt lostor possibly stolen

yeah we contacted everyone and put an ad in the paper but nobody has come forward, the police said by now she's pretty much ours we've got her booked into vets this friday and they said they'll scan her etc she looks a few months old as she's as big as my mum's border terrier! but definately not fully grown!!

thanks very much everyone and fingers crossed she's not chipped!!

Have you looked on Doglost ?

No, it's definitely not illegal to own a docked dog - it's illegal to dock them now (some breeds are exempt with conditions but not rotties). However if she's only the size of a border terrier she's very young indeed - maybe three or four months, and she would certainly have been illegally docked.

Definitely look on the Doglost site (that Moonmaiden linked to0 to see if someone's breaking their heart over her loss.

> However if she's only the size of a border terrier she's very young indeed - maybe three or four months, and she would certainly have been illegally docked.
>

Unless she is a working terrier, lost or stolen, in which case she will have a chip.

Have found the following information which is relevant to found dogs

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 150 requires the finder of a stray dog to:

Return the dog to its owner; or
Contact the Local Authority for the area in which the dog was found;
If the finder fails to take one of these courses of action, he will have committed an offence and would be liable, upon conviction, to a fine.

If the finder requests to keep the dog, he must supply the officer with his contact details and details of the dog. The officer is required to keep a record of these details.

Regulations require that the Animal Welfare Officer makes appropriate enquiries to ascertain that the finder is a suitable person to keep the dog.

The finder must then be informed verbally and in writing that he is obliged to keep the dog (if unclaimed by the owner) for not less than one month and failure to comply with that obligation is an offence. The finder has an obligation to keep the dog in good condition whilst in his care which includes any emergency veterinary treatment.

Your vet or the dog warden can scan the dog for a microchip if he has one.

It's not illegal for you to own  adocked dog.

I think she's a rottie Isabel :)

>Unless she is a working terrier, lost or stolen, in which case she will have a chip

Psst - the pup in question is a rottie, Isabel - but only the size of a border terrier!

This seems to still be quite common a friend of a friend has recently required a rottie male puppy that has been docked. she says its definately a home job because its so short that there isnt even a stump. Also this woman has been known to let her dogs roam her xbreed was allowed to roam and got pregnant on her first season! she has now been spayed thank god but still had no training or socialisation to speak of and is quite nasty. We have spoken about how we can see this dog in the paper for biting someone giving the breed a bad name, my friend and this woman are now not really speaking and she has told her kids to stay away. I dont think it is ever going to end, browsing the web the other day a man selling his PBT bitch who had just had a litter her second one and she was 16 months old, he said he is selling her because he has his worth from her and its now someone elses turn to get a good litter from her, all his girls are treated like this. He said he didnt see any problem in mating her if she is willing for the dog and standing for him, he also said that she was healthy and so were all her pups 24 of them alltogether. he also went on to describe how they do it in the wild so it must be ok . So i said yes but wolves have only one season a year and they are only alowed to make if they are pack leaders, which means a certain age definately not 6 months old. I was told to take my comments to dog borstal coz noone wants to listen to my opinion. so i threatened with tax man and police and will report his site to the webhosters. The bitch in question was called Lucky but i didnt think she was.

Louise

> I think she's a rottie Isabel

Doh!

> so i threatened with tax man and police

you should tell the police, having pbt's it totally illegal now