Docking — Castrating 181 
from fights, and it leads a more contented and peace- 
ful life. 
Docking Horses 
Docking horses by cutting off the tail, except for 
disease or to overcome a vice, is a useless and cruel 
practice, and is not to be recommended. It is now 
the fashion to dock horses, but such a fashion cannot 
be permanent. 
Docking Lambs 
In docking the tails of lambs a strong, sharp knife 
should be used, and the tail amputated at a joint if 
possible. To prevent hemorrhage, touching the end 
of the cut artery with a hot iron or twisting it with 
a pair of fine forceps will usually stop the flow of 
blood. The younger lambs are docked the less 
is the hemorrhage, and the animals do not seem to 
suffer under the operation as they do when they are 
older. Lambs are docked to render them cleaner and 
to prevent the occurrence of filth diseases. 
Castrating 
Castration consists in the removal or destruction 
of the essential organs of generation. In the male 
these organs are the testicles; in the female they are 
the ovaries. The term castration is properly applied 
only to the removal of testicles. The operation in 
the female is commonly ealled “spaying,” and after the 
operation the animal is said to be “spayed.” Animals 
