Buzzing about the shock collar ban

Did you know that England is banning the use of electric shock collars from February 2024? I am delighted, I am ecstatic that dogs will be ex-static.

More than thirty years ago I banned anyone advertising electric shock collars for sale in my magazine Dogs Today. (And back then it made me rather a pain in the neck to my publishers as we were in the same kennel as the Shooting Times and the Field and they didn't have an issue with our 'friends' electric.)

Why has it taken such a long time to zap the idea of electrocuting our best friends?

In 2010 Wales banned these devices and followed through and actually prosecuted someone.

In 2018 England (who had just passed Lucy's Law banning selling pups in pet shops) was pulling at the leash ready to stop the shock, but there was some last minute dithering. The electric collar manufacturers started fighting back. I was asked to go on Radio 4's You And Yours and a new spokesman was revealed as my nemesis. Googling revealed him to be a disgraced member of the House of Lords and a leading Scientologist. Apparently scientology have some sort of electric shock machine for auditing. It was a bizarre interview. The essence of his argument was that it didn't hurt giving dogs electric shocks. And if it was cruel why hadn't anyone been prosecuted by the RSPCA?

In the intervening years retro dog trainers who loved their dominance theories got exponentially braver bragging about their tool kits of punishment and had started to taunt all the reward based science led fraternity. They pretty much took over Tik Tok with their quick fixes.

So, this very quiet announcement last week that they weren't going to be allowed to use their gadgets after February, well it has shocked the shockers. They really didn't see it coming - rather like a dog running through a ghastly invisible fence when chasing a squirrel.

But the small print of the Government instrument sadly doesn't make entirely pleasing reading. Someone has applied rather a large portion of fudge. The Welsh variant is much cleaner.

English folk will still be able to buy electric shock collars, they'll only get a fine if they are caught with one attached to a dog or cat while they are carrying the remote.

What's that you say, surely it will drive shocking dogs underground? Well no - that will stay totally legit. You can bury a wire or set up an invisible fence and send your dog out into the garden attached to a shock collar without anyone reporting you to anyone - unless you are in Wales.

Someone in Defra decided not to ban the invisible fence - which makes very little sense. And, weirdly, the armed forces are going to be allowed to remotely shock their dogs should they feel it will help in the defence of the realm.

Why?

The science tells us that shocking needs stopping then we should make no exceptions.

So, only a few more months of dogs and cats getting some electric shocks.

I am sure it wasn't our PM who made these last minute 'corrections'.

So well done Rishi, can you also green light the stalled Kept Animals Bill if you're getting the stockpiled reforms moving again.