Effects of tail docking and docking length on neuroanatomical changes in healed tail tips of pigs

Herskin, Mette S.; Thodberg, Karen; Jensen, Henrik Elvang

doi:10.1017/s1751731114002857

Cited by 46 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…In comparison with studies of other painful procedures performed on piglets, tail docking appears to be less acutely painful than piglet castration and similar in painfulness to teeth resection or ear tagging (Marchant-Forde et al, 2009). Identification of neuromas in healed docked pig tails (Herskin et al, 2014) may indicate that docking causes chronic pain, but this has never been investigated (FAWC, 2011).…”

Section: How To Interpret the Results Of The Economic Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are most EU pigs tail docked? Economic and ethical analysis of four pig housing and management scenarios in the light of EU legislation and animal welfare outcomes

D’Eath

Niemi

Ahmadi

et al. 2016

animal

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To limit tail biting incidence, most pig producers in Europe tail dock their piglets. This is despite EU Council Directive 2008/120/EC banning routine tail docking and allowing it only as a last resort. The paper aims to understand what it takes to fulfil the intentions of the Directive by examining economic results of four management and housing scenarios, and by discussing their consequences for animal welfare in the light of legal and ethical considerations. The four scenarios compared are: ‘Standard Docked’, a conventional housing scenario with tail docking meeting the recommendations for Danish production (0.7 m2/pig); ‘Standard Undocked’, which is the same as ‘Standard Docked’ but with no tail docking, ‘Efficient Undocked’ and ‘Enhanced Undocked’, which have increased solid floor area (0.9 and 1.0 m2/pig, respectively) provision of loose manipulable materials (100 and 200 g/straw per pig per day) and no tail docking. A decision tree model based on data from Danish and Finnish pig production suggests that Standard Docked provides the highest economic gross margin with the least tail biting. Given our assumptions, Enhanced Undocked is the least economic, although Efficient Undocked is better economically and both result in a lower incidence of tail biting than Standard Undocked but higher than Standard Docked. For a pig, being bitten is worse for welfare (repeated pain, risk of infections) than being docked, but to compare welfare consequences at a farm level means considering the number of affected pigs. Because of the high levels of biting in Standard Undocked, it has on average inferior welfare to Standard Docked, whereas the comparison of Standard Docked and Enhanced (or Efficient) Undocked is more difficult. In Enhanced (or Efficient) Undocked, more pigs than in Standard Docked suffer from being tail bitten, whereas all the pigs avoid the acute pain of docking endured by the pigs in Standard Docked. We illustrate and discuss this ethical balance using numbers derived from the above-mentioned data. We discuss our results in the light of the EU Directive and its adoption and enforcement by Member States. Widespread use of tail docking seems to be accepted, mainly because the alternative steps that producers are required to take before resorting to it are not specified in detail. By tail docking, producers are acting in their own best interests. We suggest that for the practice of tail docking to be terminated in a way that benefits animal welfare, changes in the way pigs are housed and managed may first be required.

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Section: How To Interpret the Results Of The Economic Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are most EU pigs tail docked? Economic and ethical analysis of four pig housing and management scenarios in the light of EU legislation and animal welfare outcomes

D’Eath

Niemi

Ahmadi

et al. 2016

animal

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“…The formation of traumatic neuromas in the stump of tail-docked piglets has been recently described 20, 21 . Both investigations confirmed the presence of traumatic neuromas and neuromatous tissue development in tail stumps collected from pigs of up to 22 weeks of age and suggested that neuroma formation is still incomplete four months after tail docking injury, with possible implications for sensitivity of the tail stump.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tail lengths were based on recent findings suggesting an effect of the extent of tail resected on the prevalence of neuromas and on neonatal behaviours 20, 54 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of short- and long-term mechanical sensitisation following surgical tail amputation in pigs

Giminiani

Edwards

Malcolm

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Commercial pigs are frequently exposed to tail mutilations in the form of preventive husbandry procedures (tail docking) or as a result of abnormal behaviour (tail biting). Although tissue and nerve injuries are well-described causes of pain hypersensitivity in humans and in rodent animal models, there is no information on the changes in local pain sensitivity induced by tail injuries in pigs. To determine the temporal profile of sensitisation, pigs were exposed to surgical tail resections and mechanical nociceptive thresholds (MNT) were measured in the acute (one week post-operatively) and in the long-term (either eight or sixteen weeks post-surgery) phase of recovery. The influence of the degree of amputation on MNTs was also evaluated by comparing three different tail-resection treatments (intact, ‘short tail’, ‘long tail’). A significant reduction in MNTs one week following surgery suggests the occurrence of acute sensitisation. Long-term hypersensitivity was also observed in tail-resected pigs at either two or four months following surgery. Tail amputation in pigs appears to evoke acute and sustained changes in peripheral mechanical sensitivity, which resemble features of neuropathic pain reported in humans and other species and provides new information on implications for the welfare of animals subjected to this type of injury.

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“…Tail docking has been associated with changes in tail movements and position (18), body posture (19), vocalization (20), and neuroanatomical structures (21) considered to be indicative of pain. Similarly, castration has been linked to changes in behaviors (22, 23) and vocalization considered to be indicative of pain (24–26).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Assessment of Facial Expressions in Piglets Undergoing Tail Docking and Castration: Toward the Development of the Piglet Grimace Scale

et al. 2016

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Many piglets are exposed to potentially painful husbandry procedures within the first week of life, including tail docking and castration, without the provision of either anesthesia or analgesia. The assessment methods used to evaluate pain experienced by piglets are often affected by low specificity and practical limitations, prompting the investigation of alternative methodologies. The assessment of changes in facial expression following a painful event has been successfully applied to several species. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the utility of a Grimace Scale applied to neonatal pigs to evaluate pain evoked by tail docking and castration. Eight female piglets, Sus scrofa domesticus (Landrace/Large White X synthetic sire line) underwent tail docking and 15 male piglets (75% Large White and 25% Belgian Landrace) were exposed to the castration procedure. Clear images of the faces of the piglets were collected immediately pre- and post-procedure. The images were used by experienced observers to identify facial action units (FAUs) which changed in individuals over this period, and a scoring scale was depicted in a training manual. A set of randomly selected images were then combined in a scorebook, which was evaluated after training by 30 scorers, blind to the treatment. The scale for most FAU was used with a high level of consistency across all observers. Tail docking induced a significant change (P < 0.05) in free moving piglets only in the “orbital tightening” FAU, whereas no change in any unit was observed in castrated piglets, which were restrained at the time of assessment. In this initial stage of development, orbital tightening seems to have the potential to be applied to investigate painful conditions in neonatal pigs. Nonetheless, more studies are needed to assess its full effectiveness and to evaluate the influence of possible confounds (e.g., handling stress) on the observed changes in FAUs.

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Effects of tail docking and docking length on neuroanatomical changes in healed tail tips of pigs

Cited by 46 publications

References 25 publications

Why are most EU pigs tail docked? Economic and ethical analysis of four pig housing and management scenarios in the light of EU legislation and animal welfare outcomes

Why are most EU pigs tail docked? Economic and ethical analysis of four pig housing and management scenarios in the light of EU legislation and animal welfare outcomes

Characterization of short- and long-term mechanical sensitisation following surgical tail amputation in pigs

The Assessment of Facial Expressions in Piglets Undergoing Tail Docking and Castration: Toward the Development of the Piglet Grimace Scale

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