11/02/2025
Couldn’t agree more. The amount of healthy dogs dying is appalling. The world of rescue is in crisis. There are no homes for dogs with behavioural issues or bite histories.
If you own a dog, do your bit to prevent this by working with a trainer BEFORE problems arise. Please don’t be so quick to try and rehome them. Behaviour is just behaviour. It can be changed with the right help
The Truth About the Kennel Club, Dogs Trust, and the Scottish SPCA: The Welfare of Dogs is NOT Their Priority
Organisations like the Kennel Club, Dogs Trust, and the Scottish SPCA claim to be the gold standard in dog welfare. They position themselves as protectors of dogs, campaigning against what they call “cruel” training methods while pushing for bans on essential tools such as e-collars, prong collars, and slip leads. But behind the emotional advertising and carefully curated public image lies a harsh reality—one that has nothing to do with dog welfare and everything to do with maintaining their funding and control.
Mass Euthanasia: The Hidden Truth Behind Their “Rescue” Efforts
Dogs Trust and the Scottish SPCA put down thousands of dogs every year. These are not just sick, elderly, or suffering animals—they are dogs with behavioural issues that could be rehabilitated if given the right training. But instead of focusing on real rehabilitation, these organisations take the easy way out: they kill the dogs they can’t be bothered to train.
• They refuse to allow the use of balanced training tools that could help these dogs succeed.
• They won’t work with trainers who use anything other than “positive-only” methods, even when those methods are failing.
• Instead of saving dogs, they destroy them behind closed doors—all while begging for donations to “help” more dogs.
The worst part? They do this while simultaneously running massive fundraising campaigns, showing pictures of dogs with sad eyes behind bars, claiming they are working tirelessly to “find them a home.” The public, moved by these images, donates millions—never realising that many of these same dogs will be put to sleep because their training ideology prevents them from actually solving the problem.
The Heartstring-Tugging Scam: “This Dog Has Been in Our Shelter for 500+ Days”
A particularly disgusting tactic these organisations use is advertising long-term shelter dogs as a fundraising tool. They post heart-wrenching stories:
• “Meet Max—he’s been in our shelter for 785 days, waiting for a home.”
• “Daisy has spent over 1,000 days in kennels. Could you be her saviour?”
• “Rocky has spent most of his life behind bars. He just needs a second chance.”
The implication is that these dogs are just victims of bad luck—overlooked, unloved, waiting patiently for the right family. The reality is that many of these dogs are stuck in shelters for years because they have behavioural issues that could be fixed if the right training was allowed.
Instead of:
✅ Addressing their behavioural problems using effective, structured training.
✅ Implementing balanced training methods to increase their chances of adoption.
✅ Equipping potential adopters with the tools and knowledge to set them up for success.
They choose to:
❌ Let the dog rot in a kennel for years because they refuse to acknowledge their training ideology is failing.
❌ Use the dog’s suffering to pull in donations from well-meaning members of the public.
❌ Keep dogs in a cycle of frustration, anxiety, and stress instead of doing what is truly best for them.
If proper training was implemented from day one, most of these dogs wouldn’t be in shelters for years on end. They wouldn’t be “unrehomable” because their behavioural issues would have been addressed and resolved. But because these organisations cling to a failed ideology, they condemn dogs to lifetimes of confinement—or worse, a needle in the back room.
The Kennel Club’s Hypocrisy: One Rule for Them, Another for Everyone Else
The Kennel Club plays the same game, but in a different way. They are leading the charge to ban training tools, pushing the government to outlaw e-collars and prong collars. Their reasoning? That these tools are “cruel.”
But if you walk into Crufts, their prestigious showpiece event, you’ll see something interesting. Their elite handlers—who claim to be the very best in the dog world—are using choke chains, slip leads, in the ring, on nearly every dog, not just one or two, but thousands of dogs!
So which is it?
• Are these tools “inhumane” and deserving of bans? Or
• Are they legitimate training aids, used responsibly by experienced handlers?
They can’t have it both ways. If these tools are as cruel as they claim, why do they allow their own handlers to use them? The answer is simple: they know these tools work.
The Kennel Club doesn’t want dog owners to have control over their own dogs. They want to dictate how dogs are trained while keeping all the power for themselves. They don’t care about whether a dog’s life is improved—they care about maintaining their own authority and financial interests.
It’s Not About Dog Welfare—It’s About Money and Control
Organisations like the Kennel Club, Dogs Trust, and the Scottish SPCA are not charities in the way the public believes. They are multi-million-pound businesses that profit from a constant cycle of dependency and failure.
• They rely on donations, sponsorships, and government funding.
• They create emotional, guilt-driven marketing campaigns to keep money rolling in.
• They maintain a false image of moral superiority by attacking balanced trainers.
• They refuse to do what’s actually best for the dogs in their care.
If balanced training was widely accepted and used, fewer dogs would end up in shelters. Fewer dogs would be stuck for years behind bars. Fewer dogs would need rescuing at all.
But that doesn’t generate money, does it?
By demonising balanced training and pushing for tool bans, these organisations ensure that:
1. Dogs continue to struggle with behavioural issues.
2. More dogs are surrendered to their shelters.
3. More emotional fundraising campaigns can be run.
4. More money flows into their pockets.
It’s not about the welfare of dogs. It’s about keeping the machine running.
The Real Solution: Training, Not Bans
Instead of banning training tools that work, the real solution is:
• Holding these organisations accountable for the number of dogs they put to sleep every year.
• Forcing them to be transparent about their euthanasia rates.
• Pushing for real education on effective training methods, rather than ideological nonsense.
• Demanding that shelters work with balanced trainers instead of rejecting proven methods.
Final Thoughts: Exposing the Lie
The Kennel Club, Dogs Trust, and the Scottish SPCA do not exist for the good of dogs. They exist to control the narrative, generate funding, and maintain their own status.
If they truly cared about dogs, they would:
• Prioritise real rehabilitation over euthanasia.
• Stop using long-term shelter dogs as marketing tools.
• Allow trainers to use methods that actually work.
But they don’t. And until the public sees through their lies, more and more dogs will continue to suffer needlessly—whether by spending years in a shelter, developing worse behavioural issues, or being put to sleep because a charity refused to train them properly.
It’s time to stop the hypocrisy, challenge the bans, and fight for real solutions that put the dog’s welfare first—not the wallets of the organisations claiming to protect them.
Dog training in Torbay and South Devon. Bespoke training programmes, personalised to your dog. From puppies to rescues, every dog can become a first class canine
