After ceasing to market round fish jars, the Agrobiothers group – market leader in accessories, equipment and hygiene products for pets – has announced its decision to no longer market choke and electric collars for dogs.
In a press release, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation wishes to “welcome this position in the hope that it opens the way to a questioning, on a larger scale, of the methods of education through violence which leave only physical and psychic to the dogs which undergo them”.
Considered as animal abuse, the use of choke and electric collars is already prohibited or strictly regulated in many countries, such as Denmark, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, England, Finland or even Sweden).
These so-called “training” collars cause physical damage (intraocular pressure, crushing of the trachea, burns and perforation of the skin, cervical instability, degenerative osteoarthritis, paralysis of the laryngeal nerve, faulty irrigation to the brain and eyes, etc.) and causes psychic distress (pain, stress, learned inhibition, anxiety, mistrust, etc.), leading to an increased risk of reactivity and biting.
“Society’s view of animals has changed considerably in recent decades, which has notably caused a positive and revealing evolution of dog training practices, but unfortunately violent and coercive methods continue to be promoted by certain professionals” , regrets Lorène Jacquet, Campaigns and Advocacy Manager at the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. And to add: “However, by refusing to market these tools of torture, Agrobiothers is only recording an obvious observation but which is important to remember: you do not educate your dog by violence”.
“On the occasion of this announcement by the Agrobiothers group, the FBB would like to question the Minister of Agriculture on this issue that is too often avoided in discussions. While France’s next animal welfare strategy is still in the process of being development in the offices of the administration, the FBB intends to put on the agenda of the discussions the question of canine education and the prohibition of these coercive tools.To this end, the Foundation is launching a new campaign against canine education through violence, accompanied by a petition that she invites as many people as possible to share to put an end to the use and marketing of these torture collars”, concludes the press release.
