Tail Banding Law and Legal Definition
Tail Banding is a method of docking an animal’s tail in which a rubber band or similar ligature is wrapped tightly around the tail at the desired point of removal. This cuts off the blood supply to the end of the tail, which atrophies and usually falls away after a few days. Banding is legal in the United States, and is frequently practiced by laypersons on dairy cows.
For instance, in a suit challenging the regulations governing the raising, keeping, and marketing of domestic livestock, the appellate court erred by rejecting the challenges in whole as, although the facial challenge to the regulations was properly rejected, the provisions in the regulations regarding reliance on routine husbandry practices as defined therein and reliance on the standard of a knowledgeable individual to minimize pain when a certain practice was used were held arbitrary and capricious. Further, the specific challenges to the various practices, with the exception of the practice of tail docking, were rejected. [New Jersey Soc. for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. New Jersey Dept. of Agriculture, 196 N.J. 366, 955 A.2d 886, 2008 N.J. LEXIS 894 (2008).]
