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Petition Allow charities to rescue dogs with docked tails under the Animal Welfare Bill

“We ask Parliament to include an exemption in the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill for registered charities and approved, responsible rescue organisations to rehome adult, disease tested dogs, who were previously docked as working hunting dogs abroad.”

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/746353

Petition Q&A

Q. What is happening?

A new law — the Animal Welfare (Imports) Bill — contains a clause that would ban the import of any docked dog, even if the dog is a rescue with no welfare or disease concerns.

There are no exemptions for responsible charities.

Because the aim of the Bill is to improve animal welfare, not to block rescue charities or deny homes to dogs who already exist and need help. Most people would be shocked to discover that:

  • Healthy, friendly dogs
  • who have done nothing wrong
  • would be denied a safe home because of their tails

We need strong petition numbers to demonstrate this clearly to Government.

Q. Why does this affect Spinoni and other working breeds?

In many countries, docking for working dogs is routine and legal.
These dogs are docked because of their working role — not for fashion or appearance.

When their working life ends, many of these dogs face:

  • neglect
  • abandonment
  • being left in shelters with no chance of rehoming
  • or death

SOFA gives these dogs a safe route into loving homes. Without an exemption, we won’t be able to help them anymore.

Q. Why is your petition focused only on working docked dogs?

The Bill includes several different bans, each relating to different problems.

People have asked why we didn’t include cropped dogs or other categories. The reasons are:

  • A petition must have one clear issue and one clear ask to be effective.
  • Working docked dogs face a specific, unintended consequence: they will be refused entry even when rescued.
  • Dogs docked for other reasons (e.g. for appearance or for defence) face different challenges that require different solutions.
  • Those issues are best addressed by charities who specialise in them.
  • We cannot ask for exemptions that fall outside our direct experience or expertise.

We care deeply about all dogs — including those with mutilations. We have even rehomed a dog with severely injured ears, so we will be raising this issue with lawmakers. But this petition must remain focused to succeed.

Q. Why is this urgent?

The Bill has passed its final reading.
The details — including any exemptions — will be decided next, in secondary legislation, and this process will begin soon before the Bill becomes law.

This is our only chance to influence those decisions. It took six weeks for the petition to be approved, so the clock is already ticking.

Q. What support is SOFA offering to other rescues?

Even though we specialise in Spinoni and Spinone-crosses, we often help other breeds as individuals and regularly support other charities with:

  • logistics
  • transport
  • volunteer networks

We liaised on this petitioon with a group of related rescues and we all agreed that each ask needs to be separate, as each has different issues. We are building shared contact lists and have template letters to MPs, plus advice for groups who want to campaign alongside us.
If your rescue or breed group is affected, please connect with us — we are much stronger together.

Q. How can I help right now?

  • Sign the petition
  • Share it widely, especially with dog lovers who may not know about this issue
  • Encourage rescues, breed groups, and pet owners to get involved

Your signature and your voice can make a real difference.