Tail-docking law signed in California

The nation’s largest dairy state will also be the first to make tail-docking of cattle illegal effective January 1, 2010.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier this summer derided Senate Bill 135 banning the practice, approved the measure October 11 in a mass signing with 477 other bills. It adds cattle to an existing State Penal Code Section covering horses which makes it a misdemeanor to cut the solid part of the tail, except in medical emergency. Trimming of tail switches is not prohibited.

Introduced in February by State Senate Food and Agriculture Committee Chairman Dean Florez, SB 135 encountered little opposition as it sped through the legislative process. It was approved 58-15 by the State Assembly on September 3, and 26-12 by the State Senate on September 8.

Although relatively few California cows are believed to have their tails docked – industry estimates are just 1.5 to 3 percent – tail-docking is a practice that even the American Veterinary Medical Association has officially opposed since 2004.

California does not figure to be the only state banning the practice for very long. The Humane Society of the United States has already said it will now work for the same legislation in other major dairy states.