government’s position has been misinterpreted by some campaign groups to constituents like you who quite rightly are concerned about the welfare of our pets. I work closely with animal welfare organisations and our farmers and our standards on animal welfare are among the highest in the world.
The legislation to ban shock collars is called The Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations 2023. The Regulations take effect early next year. The Regulations were introduced in April and there is more detail on this link: https://statutoryinstruments.parliament.uk/instrument/vUkNBtTH/
The final approval of the Regulations is a Parliamentary formality and it will happen after the Commons resumes at the beginning of September. This stage has already been passed in the House of Lords. The Regulations are made under the Animal Welfare (2006) Act. They are the result of considerable work over nearly ten years by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs to assess the evidence base and in consultations with vets, animal welfare experts, dog owners and scientists.
The Regulations will make it an offence to use a shock collar and trigger device on cats and dogs with an unlimited fine upon conviction. My Conservative colleagues in Scotland have urged the Scottish Government led by the SNP and Greens to follow us and make this an offence there too – it is a devolved matter and a ban has come into place in Wales already.
I am pleased we have this ban coming in and I know it is welcomed by constituents.
