Lamb welfare: proposed changes to castration and tail docking methods

Castration and tail docking of lambs are commonly carried out to achieve various husbandry objectives. These include safety, efficiency and disease prevention. 

We want your views on proposals to ensure a consistent approach across the UK, reducing unnecessary mutilations. The aim is to improve animal welfare by minimizing the negative impacts associated with these practices.

The proposals include:

• requiring pain relief for methods known to cause pain, such as rubber rings and hot iron tail docking
• permitting rubber ring castration and tail docking up to three months with pain relief
• permitting clip castration and tail docking up to three months without pain relief
• introducing restrictions to prevent these procedures from being carried out within the first 24 hours of life
• requiring stockkeepers to be appropriately trained to perform these procedures.
• for lambs over three months of age, these procedures may only be performed by a veterinary surgeon using pain relief

This is a joint consultation between the Welsh, UK, Scottish and Northern Ireland governments. It is led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).