Ban dog shock collars now, councillors urge
Duo want to make plea to Holyrood over controversial devices
Another call for a ban on dog shock collars is needed after the first plea failed, insist councillors.
Elected members in Renfrewshire will be asked to call for a ban the collars next week for the second time in four years.
Councillors Andy Doig and Eileen McCartin have submitted a motion asking colleagues to agree to write to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission requesting the controversial devices are outlawed at the “earliest opportunity”.
The collars can be used as a way of training dogs and work by delivering an electric charge to control their behaviour.
But many believe the method is cruel, with the devices able to deliver shocks of up to 6,000 volts.
The Scottish Government vowed to ban the collars back in 2018, but, three years on, it is still legal to use them.
Back in 2017, the council agreed to write to ministers requesting a ban, suggesting the devices had “no place” in modern dog training.
But, since there, has been no real progress in forbidding them and Councillor Doig said he felt the need to press the council’s case again.
He said: “Things have changed a lot in the last 50 years. People used to think the best way to train a dog was to show them who the boss is.
“But now people have come to the position where it’s accepted that, if we want to build a relationship with a dog, we have to do it positively.
“A ban on shock collars has never come to fruition in Scotland.
“Dogs are often regarded as members of people’s families and we need to change how we look at them.
“We don’t smack kids any more, so why should we punish dogs like this?”
The Scottish Government says on its website it does not condone the use of shock collars as training devices, but no legislation has been brought forward to make them illegal.
The motion, which will be put before full council next week, reads: “Council notes that in the recent Scottish Parliamentary elections, the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) called in its manifesto, A Better Scotland for Animals, for a ban on shock collars for dogs, a stance also supported by the Kennel Club and the Dogs Trust.
“Council further regrets the prevarication of the Scottish Government on the question of banning shock collars, reiterates its opposition to shock collars for dogs, and agrees to write to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission calling for a ban at the earliest opportunity.”
The council will meet via video conference at 9.30am on Thursday, May 13.
We don’t smack kids any more, so why should we punish dogs like this? Councillor Andy Doig