Is it cruel to dock a pitbulls tail?

Unless it is for medical reasons or work, yes. My springer has a docked tail due to the fact she is a working dog and having the long plume of her tail would cause her pain, as it would become easily tangled and matted due to her job. I can't see that issue occurring with a pitbull as they are short haired. Many pitties have their tails and ears docked because they are vulnerable to being grabbed and ripped when used in dog fights, so if that's your reasoning behind wanting to dock your animal's tail then I suggest you rehome your animal and consider your life choices. However the fact you're asking this question suggests you care about your pet so I assume that's not the case. In short: for a fair function/medical reason/practicality: no, if done humanely. For aesthetics/cruel function: yes, it's inhumane and wrong.

It is not only CRUEL it is ABHORRENT to dock an animals tail and there is absolutely no medical or any other reason to do so.

Poseidon

Extremely cruel. They were born with it and no reason to cut it off unless you are evil.

Unnecessary, certainly. Tails actually do things for the dog, and should be left intact.

Its cruel to dock ANY dogs tail unless its medical. But the idiots who support mutilation will have all manner of excuses to defend their stupidity

There's never a reason to cut a dogs tail off and a common excuse is that the dogs tail will magically break due to it being thin but there are hundreds fo breeds with thin tails, no one is chopping their tails off

Not when they are only 2 or 3 days old. Docking the tail of an adult dog is major surgery cause the cartilage has turned to bone. You are looking at a two or three thousand dollar surgery. Somewhat equal to a leg amputation.

Pit bull is two words, it's illegal in some areas so why bother.

Yes. They are not show dogs and it is ILLEGAL to engage in dog fighting so there is NO POINT. In addition, very FEW vets will do tail docking and no vet will do it w/o anesthesia because it IS painful even to a 3 day old puppy. Infections can and DO occur (even if done by a vet) and you will NOT be able to explain AWAY doing SURGERY w/o a veterinary medical license if your puppy becomes infected with a DIY job. So you can be CHARGED with ANIMAL ABUSE - which is now a "FELONY" if you DIY.

I don’t agree with the practice itself, as it serves no function to the animal. These days, tail docking and ear cropping are for aesthetics and for show dogs.

But I wouldn't call it cruel. Painful, yes, if it done once the tail vertebrae fully fuse to the padding between them. Mist people bring in this puppy litters for tail docking within the first 24 hours of birth. The bone and cartilage have uet to fuse, so the procedure is quick and relatively painless, due to a local anesthetic.

There should only ever be a medical reason for a dog to lose its tail so If it is purely for cosmetic reasoning then that is barbaric and unnecessary.
Cosmetic tail docking is banned in certain places along with cropping.

Unless done within days of birth, taking off the tail of any dog would be amputation and generally speaking, you may not find a vet willing to do that, unless there's injury.

Cruel? - putting a dog through 'unnecessary' surgery (amputation) would be verging on cruelty.

It is cruel to dock ANY Dogs tail unless for entirely medical reasons and it is done by a qualified Vet

yes

Yep

Why would you do that? No standard for APBT calls for them to be docked. They dont do the kind of work that puts then at risk of tail injuries either

Docking tails is only NECESSARY when the tail has been horribly injured OR if you're showing an AKC show dog and it's REQUIRED for the show ring in the US.

So why would you cruelly dock the tail of a backyard breeder MUTT?

Nekkid - "Standard" for a Pit Bull? Seriously? They're not a breed recognized by ANY legitimate registry so there's no Standard PERIOD for these ill bred mutts!

no. That's how everyone will know it's not a fighter.