Tail docking of piglets — removing part of the tail to prevent biting — is performed as standard practice in many conventional systems, causing acute pain and raising significant welfare questions.
Tail docking causes acute pain during the procedure and potentially chronic neuropathic pain during healing. Performed on neonatal piglets whose pain systems are fully functional, it represents a welfare harm that is legally justified only when the alternative — tail biting and associated welfare harm — cannot be prevented by other means. Evidence from Scandinavian countries demonstrates that routine tail docking is not necessary for commercial pig production — with appropriate enrichment, space, and management, pig welfare can be maintained with intact tails. The continued routine use of tail docking in the UK and most of the EU therefore represents a compliance failure: the legal requirement to try enrichment first is not being enforced, and the welfare cost of docking is borne by millions of piglets each year.