Update In the comments: My Doodle ate the fur off her tail!

[Star and Goldie]

So apparently Goldie at the fur off her tail. She usually has a nice lush lion tail but now it's reduced down to this. The bad part is that she is making hair ball hacking noises. This was no small amount of hair so I'm a little worried. Has anyone ever dealt with this? Of course my mind is going to worst case obstruction scenarios so freak out mode is setting in. The other odd thing is how it looks like it was done with scissors. I thought it would look more chewed up. So weird. 

Any advice? After losing Riley in May I feel like I'm on super alert with Goldie but with the amount of hair she ingested I can't help but worry. 

[Stacy]

I'm just throwing this out there, but are you absolutely sure someone didn't play barbershop with her? 

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Wow!  It does look like someone cut the fur...very strange.  Hope all goes well.

[Debbie and Toby]

Our Toby occasionally gets bored and chases his tail, and when he does finally get a hold of it, he will tug some of the fur out, ouch!...but it only thins it out a bit, you can hardly tell there is any fur missing, doesn't look anything like this. We do distract him when doing this. I would definitely keep an eye on this to see what's going on.

[Star and Goldie]

Well this plot has definitely thickened! After further investigation it appears she really did have her lion tail cut off. We have ruled out my daughter doing it. There isn't a trace of hair anywhere and she doesn't have access to scissors sharp enough to cut hair. Plus she's been in my sight in the house so there's just no way. 

Where I live there have been several reports of dogs being mutalated while in their backyard. I ended up filing a police report and it's believed that it may have been some kids doing it on a dare or just to be stupid in light of what's been happening around here. In taking with the sherif I had to recall specific details and it made me remember that when I let Goldie in from being outside she did seem a little distressed. Very scary stuff but I'm so thankful she wasn't hurt. 

The hacking was just your typical hair ball hack and nothing long lasting. I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion.  Anyway here are some more pics that show her tail was definitely cut off:( 

top left is her tail before. Others are what it looks like now. 

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Poor Goldie, poor you.  It is scary.  There have been reports of horses having their tails cut off in the Hampton Roads, VA area.  Hard to catch since they seem to strike at night.  Now the horses cannot swat at flies. : (

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

How awful!  Humans can be the worst!

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

whoa!  that is incredibly scary!  Your poor baby!  People sure can be "creepy".  Thank goodness it's just fur!

[Stacy]

That's terrifying. Hopefully it was a "prank" and not something more malicious. Call me paranoid (you wouldn't be the first!) But if it were me I wouldn't ever let Goldie out unattended. I have a 6 foot privacy fence with padlocked gates and I still won't let the girls out alone. I don't really think anything bad would happen out there, but I always feel the need to supervise them.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

How scary! I hope they catch the person responsible!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

How scary!  I have a six foot solid fence with a lock on the gate, but I've seen my sons almost leap over it, so even when you think you are safe, you really aren't.  I guess Toby won't be going outside alone for quite a while.  Stupid people!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Horrible prank. TG she wasn't hurt.

[Debbie and Toby]

I definitely wouldn't let Goldie out without supervision,  it could be her tail the next time. We have a fenced in back yard, but still never let Toby out alone, we always go out with him, day and night.  He is never out of sight! This is horrible to think that anyone would do something like this, it is sure scary! I hope this person is caught, there might be some kind of inexpensive outdoor security cameras you or the neighbors could get.  Maybe you and the neighbors could form some kind of neighborhood watch to keep an eye on things. I also am thankful Goldie wasn't injured from this, the hair will grow back.