They Are Cruel & Ineffective - See What The Australian Authorities Say

by Ally
(N.S.W. Australia)

I Thought you might be interested in reading the following article I came across in an Australian newspaper, it really spells out the facts about these terrible devices. I feel all caring people need to be informed and to spread the word,

Thank you for the opportunity to do so,
Ally
N.S.W. Australia

Electric Shock Alarm On Dogs

An Article Report By: Megan McNaught
Published In: Herald Sun November 13, 2009 1:03AM

ELECTRIFIED shock collars are being used as a cruel "quick-fix" tool in training one in five working dogs.
A survey of more than 4000 dog owner and trainers by the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy to help formulate new national guidelines found 20 per cent used the collars.

They are most common in private industry, such as for guard dogs and on farms - with few used on racing or government dogs.

For the collars to be legal the owner must get the dog checked annually by a veterinarian.

Deakin University behavioural scientist Dr Nick Branson, who conducted the research, said the results were "disturbing".

Dr Branson said the collars were used as a "quick fix" to train dogs, but they did not work because dogs were unable to associate punishment with a certain behaviour.


"The dog becomes fearful and in some cases it can be catastrophic, because it is unable to associate what behaviour is causing them to get the shock," Dr Branson said.

The collars are generally operated by remote control and are used to shock the dog when it does some- thing wrong.

Their use has been slammed by RSPCA president Dr Hugh Wirth, who said they could be considered cruel and the collars did not produce any desired behaviour.

"I have never recommended the use of these collars," Dr Wirth said.

"They do not deal with the issues of training ... in many cases they could be being used outside the law."

Victorian Working Sheep Dog Association President Colin Reid said while it was common knowledge that electric collars were used, it was not something that was openly spoken about.

"There is no doubt that it happens, you would be a fool to think they are not. I personally don't agree with the collars and wouldn't use them," Mr Reid said.

"They are not looked on favourably in the industry, there is no real need for them.

"People who use them do it on their own private property and probably don't mention it publicly."

Dr Branson said positive reinforcement was the most common training tool, with dogs working in government getting food as a reward and dogs in service getting praise.

"It is surprisingly high ... we found that generally, the more educated the person was in training dogs the less likely they were to use the collars."

The issue is being examined in depth by ABC's Landline this Sunday at midday.