Routine tail docking of piglets is widespread in commercial pig production to prevent tail biting, but EU law prohibits routine docking and requires that environmental and management causes be addressed first.
Tail docking represents a painful mutilation performed preventively to manage a problem created by inadequate husbandry. The acute pain of docking and potential chronic neuroma pain in the stump are direct welfare harms. Tail biting — the behaviour docking aims to prevent — causes its own welfare harm: bitten tails become infected, attract further biting, and can lead to spinal infection and death. The welfare-optimal solution is addressing root causes through adequate enrichment, appropriate stocking density, and good ventilation rather than accepting both the welfare costs of docking and the continued risk of biting in poorly managed systems. The success of undocked pig production in Nordic countries demonstrates that the problem is solvable through management improvement, not only through mutilation.