Donal Hickey: Do e-collars work — and are they cruel?
Attack Killeens, Dogs Of Badly On Farm In Cronin, Injured 12, Lower Ciara The Nursing Was Linehan By At A Dan Savage Their Lambs One Who Picture: Cork
A photograph in this newspaper, on March 7 last, told a sorry story of dog attacks on sheep.
The image by chief photographer, Dan Linehan, shows 12-year-old Ciara Cronin cradling a lamb which had been a victim of such attacks on her family’s farm at Lower Killeens, near Blarney, County Cork.
Farmers are reporting a rise in often savage attacks around the country — unsurprising given the canine population increase and the number of people who don’t properly control their pets.
With the lambing season currently underway, sheep are now particularly vulnerable to attacks, especially at night.
The vexed issue of using electric collars to train dogs not to attack sheep is being considered by Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue. The minister told Senator Ronán Mullen, who strongly favours the collars, that the deadline for public consultations on the question has been extended to February 16.
On cruelty grounds, animal welfare groups are generally opposed to collars which change dog behaviour by sending electric shocks to the neck if they approach sheep. Conversely though: what about cruelty to poor, helpless sheep which are no match for marauding dogs?
The collars deliver shocks via remote control for up to 11 seconds at a time, according to the British Kennel Club.
A ban on the collars has just come into force in England, after a 10-year campaign led by the Kennel Club which described it as an historic moment for animal welfare. Bans were already in place in Wales and France.
A University of Lincoln study found the collars compromise a dog’s well-being and have no more effect than other training systems which use ‘positive’ methods.
However, researchers at the North Trondelag Research Institute, Norway, who tested long-term learning effects of previous e-collar use in dogs chasing sheep, came up with quite different results.
No dogs showed interest in, or attacked, a lone sheep in the second-year test, while almost two-thirds of them did so the first year. The proportion of dogs attacking sheep during the entire test was reduced to almost a quarter.
The Norwegian study also heard no reports from dog owners of negative effects on dog behaviour during the year after electric shock treatment and 18 of the 24 dogs lost their previous interest in sheep.
In conclusion, the study found that the use of an e-collar may be an efficient way of reducing the probability of a dog attacking sheep.
Independent Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae, who supports e-collar use, wonders what all the fuss is about. Electric shocks have been used for animal control for decades, through electric fences on farms, he posited. A moot point, surely.