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Woman who docked dog tails escapes jail

Saturday, February 14, 2009, 06:03 A mum of four who cruelly docked the tails of five puppies has walked free from court. Amanda Radway, 35, admitted tying strong elastic bands to the tails of the Jack Russell terrier pups when they were one and two-days-old. Radway said she had not known the technique to remove the dogs tails had been made illegal in 2006 and is considered cruel. Magistrates at Cheltenham handed Radway, of Home Close, Oddington, a conditional discharge and did not order her to pay the costs incurred by the RSPCA in prosecuting the case. The incident came to light in June last year when Radway took the puppies to the vet to have their claws removed. The vet noticed the marks left by the elastic bands and decided it was necessary to remove the tails of all five puppies to prevent infection. All the dogs have now made a full recovery and are living away from the area. Charlotte Mitchell, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the court tail docking had been outlawed under the Animal Health Act because it can lead to infections and death. She said: The prosecution says the suffering caused in this case was unnecessary. The removal of the tail is not necessary for the good of the animal. The court heard Radway came from a family rooted in hunting traditions and considered removing dogs tails to be a common practice. Docking of hunting dogs tails to certain lengths is permitted to stop them becoming caught on trees and fences. Radway also claimed her vet had not made it clear to her that docking was illegal and contacted the RSPCA herself when she discovered she had broken the law. Speaking outside court, RSPCA inspector Heather Workman said ignorance of the law was no excuse. She said: Unfortunately in this case the damage was done before the incident was discovered. Tail docking is a cruel practice which was outlawed and the law is widely known in the dog breeding community. Ms Workman added she was disappointed not to have been awarded the cost of bringing the prosecution, believed to be more than 1,000. We are a charity and the cost of this prosecution has been met from donations, she said. Magistrates handed Radway an 18-month conditional discharge and said the offence was not serious enough to ban her from keeping animals. Click here for more news from Cheltenham