Animal welfare charities have expressed "extreme disappointment" with the SNP government after it voted to reintroduce an "outdated and unnecessary" tail-shortening procedure for puppies in Scotland.

On Wednesday, SNP and Conservative MSPs voted in favour of an amendment that will see tail docking, which was outlawed in Scotland in 2007, reintroduced for some breeds of puppy if vets believe they will become working dogs.



The practice involves removing part of a puppy's tail without anaesthetic. It's been described as "acutely painful" by Scottish animal charity OneKind and as a "step backwards" for animal welfare north of the border.

Wednesday's vote will see spaniel and hunt point retriever puppies who are no more than 5 days old have a maximum of a third of their tails removed by vets if there's sufficient evidence the dogs will be used for working purposes.

Those in favour of reintroducing the procedure say it prevents working dogs from serious injury in later life and having to have their tails amputated as adults, but no animal welfare or vet organisations supported its reintroduction.