Routine tail docking in piglets is performed to prevent tail biting in crowded conditions, but welfare science and EU legislation frame it as a symptom of poor management that should be addressed at source rather than through mutilation.
Tail docking represents a management shortcut that accepts the welfare cost of a painful mutilation to avoid addressing the environmental and management conditions that drive tail biting. The logic — dock tails to prevent biting rather than address the conditions causing biting — prioritizes production convenience over welfare. Undocked pigs in appropriately enriched and managed environments demonstrate that tail biting is not inevitable. The Nordic example shows that commercial pig production without routine tail docking is feasible when producers invest in enrichment, appropriate stocking density, and attentive management. EU enforcement of the existing ban on routine tail docking would represent one of the most scalable immediate welfare improvements in European pig production.