Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Pets / Animals Barbaric Dog Collars

Petition signed and I have also emailed the company.

Oh, so what do we make of this then? Arrived this morning in response to my email to them yesterday.

Hello,
Thank you for your email. There is a targeted hoax currently being spread via Facebook and other social media channels which relies on false and misleading information with the aim of causing distress and anxiety to its viewers and inciting a campaign of bullying and intimidation, which has gathered pace.

The picture used is very old, approximately 5 years old and of an unknown source. There is no clear indication of the cause of the injury. A likely cause is an embedded prong collar, although this cannot be certain. A collar can become embedded by fitting a small collar to a young dog, then never removing the collar or changing the size. Over time, a very long time, the dog outgrows the collar and it begins to grow into the skin. This picture is of an embedded collar from a dog tied up for months if not years without ever having the collar resized. The most common collar to do this by an overwhelming majority is a normal flat nylon collar, this photo of an embedded prong collar is very rare.

The hoax aims to make this collar and this injury common place, it implies this can happen to any dog and any prong collar user. If that were true, why is there only 1 picture in 5 years? Google "prong collar injury", you'll see this picture in a number of variations.


Using a training collar to tether a dog for months at a time is not normal use, it's use is for training, and the first aim of training a dog with a prong collar is to train the dog to a point where the prong collar is not necessary and can be excluded. In practice, the prong collar under normal use could not cause this injury, ever.

The prong collar is intimidating to look at, in practice it's a safe and quite gentle training tool. The reported instances of injury during training or regular use are virtually non existent. Compare that to a head collar which looks very inoffensive, can be bought in any pet shop, or market stall, even supermarkets, and is well known for being painful, causing injury, stress and anxiety. Judging a training tool by how it looks is not a reliable way to judge the effects, the scary prong collar is less likely to cause injury than the friendly looking head collar. The hoax relies on the prong collar looking scary, this picture of a dog chained up for months and deceives the view into believing this is what happens from typical use.

This picture appears regularly, this hoax appears regularly, the hoax is always designed to cause distress and to target companies the hoaxers choose. It has already appeared twice this year in the exact same format, so far.

Should this be a typical injury, no-one, not even the cruellest, would buy this to train their dog. Should this be a typical injury, or even a remote possibility, then no company and ourselves included, would ever sell this collar. This hoax is make believe, and you have been used to make it go viral at our expense.


For anyone who would like to see the original email we responded to, which has been removed from the Facebook shared link, and with the full knowledge of our product range, here it is:

Name:Mark Wheeler

Message:

Hi Love my Dog,

I'm getting a petition up to outlaw the barbaric use of pinch collars in the uk and to make the sale of them a criminal act. I need to collect a number of emails to get the petition started. As a dog lovers site can I rely on you for support?

Kind regards

Mark Wheeler

Exactly the same generic reply that everyone has recieved.I replied to mine and got another 'personalised' email response from him. Will copy and paste it up.

Thankyou for your reply. I have not wrote to you as a blind person sucked in by a Facebook hoax in order to cause you and your company distress. I have wrote to all sellers of these barbaric collars in an attempt to ask you to refrain from selling them- to put animal comfort before profit.

If, you are not embarrassed at selling such items of medieval torture then why include the following :

Herm Sprenger Shadow Ultra Plus Prong Collars
The collars are coloured to compliment darker fur and blend into the dogs coat, especially useful for dark coloured necks where the collar will be more discreet in either long or short fur. The collar can be further concealed with a nylon prong collar cover if required.




in your description, as viewed on your web site. Why the need for 'discreetness'?



I have googled 'prong collar injuries'- horrific descriptions of injuries including bone, muscle, nerve damage, emotional distress etc etc



Good day to you Mr Austin.

His reply:

Why do people put bandanas over flat collars? Is it to appease you because they're embarrassed? Why do people who show dogs want the thinnest chain possible that can't be seen, to appease you too?

it's because the customer has a choice and preference.

Annoyingly, I cant actually get any decent quotes from the RSPCA etc to send back with my reply.

Dogs Trust Press Release

http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/mediacentre/newsreleases/pr14prongcollars.aspx#.UzxoB6hdXxD

Thanks , I will put them to good use.

I have signed it.
It states i was signature 4107!!
So unless i have read the wrong thing this petition has certainly grown.
I have also shared on Facebook.