Stoopid humians....

A few days back I found out that Animates, a national pet store chain are selling shock collars.

This is despite them saying in their ""about us blurb that" it is our belief that life is better with pets, they are selling hardware that has been proven to cause significant psychological and physical injury to dogs. 

I am curious as to how life is better for the dog when it is terrified and has entered a state of what trainers call "learned helplessness". Remember that Animates are suppossedly the professionals and should know about all this stuff.

More than a little disgusted, I emailed Animates to ask a) why they're selling these horrible things and b) if they'd consider removing them from sale. I do have to hand it to Animates, they promptly came back, saying they’d investigate. Their next email however proved that any investigation was really a sham and read as little more than a weakly worded justification for selling shock collars.

Here’s what they said:

 “Thank you for getting back in contact with us.

Animates are very passionate about the welfare of pets and do not sell products that we deem inhumane. We are aware of some concerns around electronic collars and their usage.

However, we do stand behind Petsafe Anti-Bark Collars for the reasons outlined below, and provide ongoing training for our team members to ensure that the right collar is recommended as appropriate for the dogs' behaviour/size/age and importantly, that the collars are used correctly.

Also, many of our team members have personally experienced the sensation that a static collar emits, which is unpleasant, but not painful.”

Here's the thing, there's a growing body of evidence credible from studies conducted by scientists, dog trainers and canine behaviourists that highlight the negatives of shock collars, the fact that they are generally not good for a dogs mental state and that shock collars can also cause burn injuries. Needless to say, a common theme of these studies is that the negative outweigh the positives of shock collars by a huge margin.  

That a pet store that claims to be passionate about animal welfare sells a product that has a proven track record of causing harm to animals tells me pretty much everything I need to know.

Animates also said that they'd administered shocks from the collars to their staff. I say so bloody what. the reality is that Animates employees are sentient human beings. They’re know that there is a jolt coming and what it is. For an unsuspecting dog with no idea what this pain is and when it'll next happen it’s terrifying.

It gets better though - The next part of their response was titled “WHY DO WE NEED THEM?”. 

“Inappropriate animal behaviour is a significant issue for the public and in many cases, it can cause a threat to public safety. Electronic collars can be used to correct many nuisance behaviours, which could otherwise result in the euthanasia of animals.In fact, Petsafe has received many testimonials from users claiming that the collar they purchased had shock collar effectiveness"

You'll have to forgive my cynicism but these hollow blanket statements are often parroted by shock collar advocates. They also puzzle me. If On one hand Animates claim shock collars don’t hurt a dog why do they say it’s a last resort to prevent the “euthanasia of animals”. Surely that one statement contradicts the other. 

Stunned by Animates response, I penned a reponse to the issue in a bid to raise public awareness of this issue. Here's what I wrote 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that a stuff.co.nz had also picked up on the issue. It seemed like a great move - at least until I read the comments attached to story. 

Many read like they had been lifted out of a shock collar marketing brochure. Other pro shock collar comments submitted were written by people who either didn't have a clue about dog training or were too lazy to try them and wanted a quick fix.

One commenter said they lived on a lifestyle block and that the collars kept her dogs off a busy road. (they were obviosuly too lazy to install fencing). The same person then mentioned in a later comment that their dog had been run over and was now a tripaw. 

This highlights several things to me:

1) Shock collars are seen as a "quick fix""

In fact they're not. As the commenter found out at their dogs expense. Too many people don't do the research that is needed when buying a dog. Too many people are too lazy to invest time regularly attending dog obedience classes and learning about how their dog works. Instead they throw a shock collar around their dogs necks and go for a quick fix. It doesnt usually work well longer term. 

2) The story rattled someone

The comments section in that story had been astroturfed - this is marketing slang for vested interests using comments sections to push their own agenda. That there were so many comments that'd obviously been written by the same group of people using multiple logins tell me that the story has rattled someone.

3) Shock collars should be restricted NOT banned

Selling a shock collar to any member of the general public is a terrible idea. Too many people want a quick fix and really have little to no dog obedience experience. Talk to any trainer and they'll agree that shock collars are a bad thing but will also say that shock collars have a use as a last resort for training.

On the basis of this, I'd be happy to see shock sales limited to professional trainers rather than being sold willy-nilly to members of the public who will misuse them.