10/08/2025
It's important to recognise that the electric shock collar was banned in Wales in 2010.....yet still not been banned elsewhere in the UK??
Obviously they are considered cruel on animal welfare grounds by vets, rescues, correctly trained professionals due to the pain and fear they inflict, as well as the potential for them to create or worsen behavioural problems.
The primary method of the collar is to deliver an electric shock, which is painful and frightening. This can cause dogs to live in fear of the collar, their surroundings, or even their owner. The level of pain is subjective and can vary greatly between individual dogs.
They can cause physical injury ranging from skin irritation and burns to potential damage to the heart (cardiac fibrillation).
They can cause severe anxiety, stress and a state of "shut-down" or "learned helplessness," where the dog is too afraid to do anything, which is often mistakenly interpreted as " well trained."
By punishing a behaviour that stems from fear or anxiety (like barking at a strange dog), the collar can actually suppress the warning signs (like a growl) without addressing the underlying emotional state. This can result in the dog going straight to a bite.
Some people/trainers test the electric shock collars on themselves to prove they don't hurt, let's quickly look at that idea:
Skin Thickness: A dog's skin, particularly the epidermis (outer layer), is significantly thinner than ours. For dogs, the epidermis is often cited as being 3–5 cells thick, while ours is typically 10–15 cells thick. This difference can cause the electrical stimulation to feel much more intense to a dog.
A dog in a highly aroused state (e.g., chasing a squirrel) has increased adrenaline and focus, which can temporarily raise their threshold for feeling the shock. A trainer may need to use a much higher level to break through this and get a response, compared to the level we might feel when calmly testing it on ourselves.
Again, I can't quite we are still having to put posts out on this subject in 2025...it's animal welfare at the end of the day, and surely that does not need a debate?
