So I’m in my first year of studying animal care and although I understand the practice of docking sheep tails as soon as they’re born and why it Is done I can’t quite wrap my head around how it works medically. I may be wrong but I understood that if you cut off blood flow to an area / limb (like what is done with docking) then that limb becomes necrotic and dies. So how do sheep not get sepsis or other issues while their tail is becoming necrotic and how do they heal after an appendage has suddenly fallen odd? Wouldn’t their be a large wound??
Sorry I hope this makes sense!
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I have two cattle dogs and their tails are docked.
I was told it was done just one or two days after birth, because the mother will care for it the same way she cares for the umbilical wound.
It is done in working dogs so their long tails don’t get damaged during their work; like being stepped on by cattle.
Why it is done for sheep, I do not know. In fact, I didn’t know it was until your post.
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