In Australia dogs are very popular pets. Sometimes, dogs have their tails cut off when they are very young. Find out why this happens and what the government is doing about it.



JOSIE EIFFE: They're healthy. They're eating really strongly. They're calm. So I think they're going to be good Rottweilers.

MIKE SEXTON: These month-old puppies all have good homes to go to.

The only thing they haven't got is their tails. That's because when they were a few days old, they were removed by a vet in a process called docking.

JOSIE EIFFE: I did have their tails done.

The reason being, I asked all of the potential customers beforehand and no one wanted to leave the tail on.

MIKE SEXTON: Matt Landreth has owned several Rottweilers and is in no doubt about how he likes his dogs.

MATT LANDRETH: Definitely better. They look better with their tails docked. They just seem cleaner, I suppose, and I think everyone's more used to it, and they're just, they're beautiful dogs.

MIKE SEXTON: Josie Eiffe has been raising Rotties for more than 20 years, but like all dog breeders around the country, soon the decision whether or not to dock tails will be taken out of her hands.

A decision by the Australian agriculture ministers last year agreed to outlaw the practice and now each State has to bring in new laws by April.

JO SILLINCE: Tail docking is a traditional remnant of old beliefs and it's not in the interests of the animals' welfare, so it's time to get rid of it.

MIKE SEXTON: A growing majority of vets is refusing to dock tails because they believe the practice is cruel and causes the animal significant pain.

This healthy boxer Zeus escaped the chop as a puppy and vet Jo Sillince says a basic examination of the adult tail shows how much potential suffering there is in docking.

JO SILLINCE: See the bones there. You actually see the lumps of the bones as you go all the way down and those bones go all the way to the tip of the tail and you've got spinal nerves that come down here and spread out to the legs and the rest of the spinal nerves come out and put nerves into every space between those bones.

ANDREW KIDD: One of the arguments that is put forward is that the tails are damaged and they suffer pain for the rest of their lives. As you can see, quite clearly there is no truth in that at all. He has healed beautifully. They are coated. There is no problem with that tail at all.

MIKE SEXTON: Aside from the ACT, every State still has to pass regulations, and emotional debates continue with both sides arguing they know what is best for the dog.

But, for Josie Eiffe, it's likely the next time she is selling a litter of Rottweilers, they will all go to new homes with their tails between their legs.

JOSIE EIFFE: I've talked to a lot of people and I've talked to all of my potential puppy people and people who've got dogs now and they say that having the dog is more important than whether it's got a tail or not.