There is a trickling effect of foreign ecollar legislation to American organizations.
On August 27, 2018, Michael Gove, the British Environment Secretary, announced the intention to ban electric training collars for dogs in England. Gove follows the lead of other foreign countries that have already banned the use of training collars. These include Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Wales. Western Europe, which includes the biggest markets of Belgium, France, Spain, and Italy, and Eastern Europe have no restrictions.
This ban on ecollars has been campaigned by several animal charities for several years. A statement released by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) says, “In modern day society there is no excuse or need for the use of devices which can compromise cat and dog welfare, especially when humane and viable alternatives to training and containing dogs and cats are available.”
What swayed the vote was the claim from another interest group, the Dog’s Trust. The Dog’s Trust is the largest dog welfare charity in the UK and claimed that their research proved that ecollars were delivered bursts of electricity up to 6,000 volts for up to 11 seconds. Dog Trust’s research swung the vote and the rest is history.
That 6,000-volt number sounds particularly large for such a small device, especially considering a common table lamp offers 110 volts. A clothes dryer provides double that number, or 220 volts. Equally befuddling was the RSPCA research which surveyed only 5 percent of dog owners who used ecollars. Are ecollars depicted properly in the UK and in Europe or are politics clouding the issue?
Ian Gregory, a British lobbyist for pet collar manufacturers, argued against the ban. Gregory stated that animal charities grossly exaggerated the impact of the shock delivered by ecollars by misrepresenting the data. Gregory claims that 6,000 volts are used in cattle and sheep containment fences, not ecollars. And even so, Tasers, used by law enforcement to subdue belligerent criminals, deliver far less of a charge. According to Taser International, their devices can deliver up to 50,000 volts in an open-air arc only, yet only an average of 1,200 volts hit a person’s body. That’s a far cry from the British allegation, particularly since Tasers have a stunning and non-lethal affect.
Jason Hart is Chairman for Partnership for Electronic Training Technology (PETT), which is a non-profit trade organization in the United State comprised of five of the most respected names in the pet training products industry. He has the following response to the claim made by The Dog’s Trust: “The claim that electronic collars can ‘deliver an electronic pulse of up to 6,000 volts for up to 11 seconds’ is a highly emotional and misleading comment. None of the collars manufactured and sold by the members of PETT do, nor are we aware of any others that do.
“That is one very important aspect of the product design and there are redundant safeguards that have been engineered into the products that limit the amount of energy delivered to the pet when issuing a correction. As a trade organization, we have developed technical standards which provide safety for the pet.”
Hart continued, “PETT is committed to educating consumers on the proper use of electronic training tools and ensuring that the products offered by our members are manufactured to the highest standard. We also pay careful attention to international ecollar laws and work to ensure they don’t impact American trainers, handlers and consumers. E-collars are an excellent tool for many dog owners in strengthening the relationship with their pet.”
There is a trickling effect of foreign ecollar legislation to American organizations. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, the American Animal Hospital Association and the Association of Professional Dog Trainers have issued petitions for a nationwide law prohibiting the use of ecollars. Boulder, Colorado was the site for an active demonstration.
There are tremendous benefits to ecollar training. Remote trainers serve as communication tools that reach distances far beyond a check cord. They reinforce what is acceptable behavior just as they reinforce what is unacceptable behavior. Ecollars are ideal for the kind of off-lead training done by field trialers, bird hunters, and other dog owners. There are many training options, and for many trainers ecollars help with better dog control, which leads to a better quality of life.
Carpet generated static electricity, the kind most people experience from walking across a carpet, can create up to 15,000 volts. Many people have felt a non-lethal spark of a much higher voltage at some point in their lives. But thanks to PETT’s watchful eyes, American trainers, hunters and handlers can breathe a sign of relief. And ecollar fans won’t worry about misrepresented data.