Dog attacks on sheep due to 'failed' e-collar training ban
Date of alert:
Crime Ref:
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Wales - North Wales Police
The Welsh government will not review its ban on e-collar training for dogs despite the fact that Welsh farmers are four times more likely to experience dog attacks than other UK nations.
Data from the National Police Chief Council's report into livestock worrying shows that Welsh farmers are being forced to shoot far more dogs than their English counterparts.
The concerning statistic was highlighted in yesterday's (27 March) The Sunday Telegraph.
Responding to the report, former Welsh Secretary David Jones MP said the data made clear that the ban had "failed" and was "leading to many more animal deaths".
He said that in response to the suffering being caused to sheep and dogs the ban should be “urgently reassessed”.
However, in response, the Welsh government said e-collars cause pain, adding "we have no plans to review this decision."
E-collars are used to train dogs to associate sheep with a static pulse and so become wary of approaching them.
Academic studies have found that the dogs continue to avoid sheep even when they are off-lead.
That is particularly important given that police data reveals that in 89% of attacks in North Wales the dogs had escaped from human control.
