Tail docking of piglets is performed to prevent tail biting but is painful and only addresses symptoms. EU legislation requires alternatives, but practice remains widespread.
Tail docking causes acute pain to neonatal piglets — performed without anaesthesia in the vast majority of cases — and may cause chronic pain from neuroma formation at the dock site. However, the welfare harm it prevents — tail biting causing severe injury to bitten pigs — is also substantial. The fundamental welfare problem is the housing system that drives tail biting: barren environments, excessive stocking density, and inadequate enrichment create redirected oral behaviours that focus on tails. The EU legislative approach — requiring enrichment rather than docking — is welfare-positive in direction but implementation has been chronically inadequate. Countries like Finland that have enforced the ban demonstrate it is achievable with appropriate management.