Banning electric collars would harm more cats
sir – Michael Gove is proposing a ban of the use of electric collars for cats. Thousands of cat owners use these collars in combination with electronic containment fences to stop cats from straying from their gardens and into the street. As many as 300,000 cats are killed by traffic every year and even more are seriously injured, so these fences make a significant contribution to animal welfare.
In its consultation document, the Government presents no evidence in favour of a ban on these collars, whereas peer-reviewed evidence (N Kasbaoui et al, PLOS One, 2016) demonstrates that no long-term welfare issues result from their use.
As Emeritus Professor of Feline Medicine at Bristol University and deputy chairman of the charity Cats Protection, I have dedicated my career to the welfare of cats. I would implore the Government to recognise that containment fences are entirely different from dog training collars, and not to ban them. A ban would condemn many cats to unnecessary suffering and death.
Professor Timothy Gruffydd-jones Bristol
sir – Our dog is a rescue terrier and, by the time we adopted him, he already had a strong hunting instinct. We worked hard to retrain him, but to no avail, and, despite our house being fully fenced, he got out and was hit by a car while chasing a pheasant out of our driveway.
Our vet recommended installing an electric containment fence, so we did. Our dog learnt quickly, by receiving approximately four mild shocks, all of which were preceded by a beep when he approached the edges of the garden. He now knows exactly where the boundary is.
The risk of his being injured or killed on the road far outweighs the discomfort of those four small electric pulses.
Antonia Thompson
Leigh, Surrey