The ban-athon that is the Labour Party in power

Another week in politics and another ban. Quelle surprise. Whether it be just Scotland or the UK as a whole, the idealogues and anti-{insert fashionable cause here} groups win the day once again. Looking through some of the groups who contributed to the Executive's consultation process in the Analysis of Responses, many of them seem to be quite irrelevant and detached from the matter under consultation: The Vegetarian Society - maybe they though the docked bits of tails were made into vegetarian sausages? West Lothian Animal Rights and Veggies - well, that says it all really, "veggie" by name, "veggie" by nature. Numerous cat groups - some sort of feline revenge for dogs chasing them into the path of speeding vehicles perhaps? Bampots the lot of them. If they have any idea of the hazards that undocked spaniels will now have to face when they are worked then I truly wonder what sort of tortured logic they use to appease their consciences with this latest "victory" for animal welfare.
It might be worthwhile stating that the ban on tail docking could be considered justifiable to prevent docking solely for cosmetic reasons. Rottweilers and Doberman Pinschers are two breeds whose tails are regularly docked to obscenely short lengths. However, the inclusion of all working dogs (including police dogs of which quite a few are spaniels) seems to have resulted because of Labour's congenital inability to deal sensibly & fairly with rural issues. Nick Cohen sums it up neatly here, from today's Observer.