Progress against docking dogs

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

EDINBURG, JOHANNESBURG–The Scottish Parliament on May 31,
2006 approved inclusion of a ban on tail-docking dogs in a pending
Animal Health & Welfare omnibus bill, while leaving open the
possibility of exempting working dogs. The Scottish language
parallels language approved by the British Parliament in March 2006,
as part of a general update of anti-cruelty legislation. Similar
language was introduced in 2005 but not put to a vote in New Zealand.
The South African Veterinary Association ruled meanwhile that
vets who dock dogs’ tails after June 2007 may be charged with
“unprofessional, improper or disgraceful conduct.”
Australia banned tail-docking dogs except for medical reasons
in 2004. Tail-docking dogs was already prohibited in Sweden,
Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, and Denmark. Nations
including Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, and Switzerland
have ratified the Convention on the Protection of Pet Animals
proposed in 1987 by the Council of Europe, which includes a
tail-docking ban, but have not adopted anti-docking legislation of
their own.