Potential controls or prohibition of electronic training aids in Scotland

Overview

This consultation seeks views on whether some or all electronic training aids should be subject to tighter controls in Scotland or whether they should be banned outright. It also seeks evidence to support these views.

Why your views matter

On the 5th July 2015 the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment announced that the Scottish Government would be seeking views on additional controls around electronic training collars for dogs.

This followed a number of requests for electric shock and vibration collars to be banned in Scotland. The issue was previously consulted on in 2007 and received a limited number of responses at that time.

Electronic training collars have developed significantly since 2007, both in terms of increased attention to pet welfare and safety in the design and proper use of static pulse (shock) collars and in the availability of alternative methods of negative stimuli (vibration, noise, water or chemical spray).

This consultation provides information on these developments, related research studies, and the approaches take elsewhere to enable respondents to give a reasoned view on electronic training aids in Scotland in 2015.

These views will then feed into future policy development on electronic training aids..

What happens next

The consultation will furnish information and evidence to allow the Scottish Government to further consider whether the use of electronic training equipment should be either - maintained with reliance on further developments in industry self-regulations; maintained with the introduction of legal control and/or guidelines; or prohibited.

Responses are expected to be published in Spring 2016.