Charity welcomes consultation on electric shock collars

Animal welfare charity Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has welcomed the Westminster Government’s consultation around the use of electric shock collars on dogs and cats.

Claire Horton, Battersea’s chief executive, said: “Battersea welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Environment Secretary’s consultation on banning electric shock collars.

“Battersea has long called for these cruel and unnecessary training devices to be prohibited, as it is never acceptable or necessary to apply electric shocks to an animal.

“We know that positive reinforcement techniques, such as reward-based training, are far more effective at changing a dog’s behaviour without inflicting unnecessary pain.

“The use of electric shock collars is already banned in Wales and the Scottish Government also recently announced their intentions to ban their use. We would urge England to follow their example.”