Member of the Scottish Parliament Christine Grahame has lent her support to a campaign to ban electric shock collars in Scotland with a special event at the Scottish Parliament building in Holyrood.
The drop-in session for MSPs, held in association with The Kennel Club and Scottish SPCA, aimed to raise awareness of the negative impact of electric shock collars on dog welfare and urge action on the issue.
Electric shock collars deliver an electric shock to a dog’s neck via a remote control, up to a radius of two miles – meaning a dog not within sight of its owner could still receive the stimulus – and for up to 11 seconds at a time. The Kennel Club has long-campaigned for a ban on these devices in Scotland alongside the Scottish SPCA. They have been banned in Wales since 2010 under The Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (Wales) Regulations and have also recently been banned in France as of January 2023.
Following research and a public consultation, the Scottish Government introduced guidance condemning the use of shock collars in 2018, and hailed this an ‘effective ban’ on the use of these devices. However the guidance has since proven to be ineffective in stopping the use of electric shock collars and Grahame used the drop-in session to highlight the ongoing concerns around this.
She said: “Electric shock collars for dogs are wrong, full stop. That’s why I support The Kennel Club and SSPCA’s campaign to increase awareness about their impact on dog welfare.
“Regulations must be brought forward to ban the use of electric shock collars to ensure that those who continue to use them can be prosecuted. I am delighted to have hosted this drop-in for MSPs to allow them to test electric shock collars out and see for themselves just how cruel and unnecessary they are.”
Kennel Club chief executive Mark Beazley added: “The Kennel Club has long campaigned for a ban on electric shock collars and we were delighted when the Scottish Government pledged to ban the use of these devices in 2018. Unfortunately, this has since proven to be ineffective, and as such we believe that regulations urgently need to be introduced in order to stop the unnecessary suffering of dogs.
“We thank Christine Grahame MSP for hosting this important event and hope Scottish Government take swift action on these cruel devices.”
