Abstract: This invention is a method, and an apparatus for practicing said method, wherein a resilient ring-like member of rubber or the like is expanded in a triangular configuration and slipped over the tails of swine for the purposes of totally interrupting the flow of blood and causing the tail to drop off, at the same time requiring no surgery or other techniques causing a loss of blood. The method utilizes a particular apparatus, a unique invention in itself, for expanding the ring in an unusual, economical, and rapid manner. The expanding apparatus comprises a pair of pegs mounted on jaws and activated away from one another by a pair of handles which in turn activate a third peg cooperating with the first two to form a triangular configuration.