The ISPCA welcomes the recent announcement from the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Charlie McConalogue T.D, to move to ban the use of electronic shock collars on dogs and cats that are operated by hand-held remote controls.
The Minister sought and received advice from his companion animal advisory group (ACCAW), the ISPCA is a member of this Group, and he listened carefully to the concerns raised recognising that some of the small number of dog owners, who currently use these shock collars, expressed worry about controlling their dogs if they stop using them. For that reason, the Minister intends to permit those who currently use shock collars on their dogs to continue to do so, but only for those dogs. Importantly, these pet owners will need to register their dog’s identity with DAFM, exempting that dog from the new rules. As such, the new ban will then protect puppies and dogs who have not previously had shock collars used on them.
The ISPCA has always been opposed to the use of any negative reinforcement (aversive) training methods to control companion animals and believes that positive reinforcement (reward based) methods should be used instead. Negative reinforcement methods are based on the principle of applying an unpleasant stimulus to eliminate or prevent an unwanted behaviour. Such methods or training techniques include:
1. Electric shock collars, including:
- Those activated remotely to stop an unwanted behaviour.
- Those used in fencing systems, and which are activated when the animal reaches a boundary.
- Those used as anti-barking devices, activated when a dog barks
2. Choke chains
3. Prong collars
4. Physical force / Coercion (e.g. hitting / forcing into a position)
5. Use of citrus sprays which may cause distress in dogs
6. Use of high-pitched sonic devices which may cause distress to dogs
These techniques can inflict pain and involve punishment, fear or distress resulting in poor welfare.
Behavioural problems can be made worse and other behavioural problems emerge, as a result of such techniques, which have no place in modern companion animal training.
The ISPCA supports and advocates for positive (reward based) training and strongly encourages owners to properly train their pets using reward-based techniques.
