New UK legislation

“we welcome this announce‐ment from Defra that hand‐held electric shock collars are to be banned in England. It is both unnecessary and cruel to use these collars on dogs.

“Research has shown that electric shock collars negative‐ly impact dog welfare and in‐ stead of improving behaviour, risk causing further behaviour problems. Worse still, they can be a mechanism for abuse if used in anger.”

The collars are activated by a radio‐controlled device which can be used from a dis‐tance of about two miles, which are capable of giving painful electrical shocks for up to 11 seconds at a time Figures indicate that one in 20 British dog owners have used the controversial collars on their dogs, which are cited as a training device.

Mark Beazley CEO of Chari‐ty The Club Kennel said, “There is simply no excuse for using these devices.”

DOG food sold in the UK may harm your pet after some have been found to contain high levels of toxic lead according to campaign‐ers at Wild Justice.

According to the organi‐sation, more than three quarters of samples from three raw pheasant‐based dog foods tested for lead exceeded the maximum level recommended for ani‐mal feed.

They contend therefore that the use of lead shot in shooting means pet owners are unwittingly feeding their dogs levels of lead that may harm their health.

Chris Packham said “That people might be unwittingly poisoning their beloved companion animals is out‐rageous.

“It’s clearly a failure of our regulatory systems when products like raw pheasant‐based dog foods can be sold containing such high lead levels.

“No animals should be exposed to these levels of lead in their food. Wild Jus‐tice is taking legal advice on these shocking findings.”

New research published in the journal Ambio stated that tests were undertaken on samples from raw, air‐dried and wet dog food products purchased in the UK that contained pheasant meat.

They found that about three quarters of samples from raw pheasant‐based dog food packs exceeded the EU maximum lead lev‐els permitted in animal feed.

Wild Justice believe that raw meat diets for pets are on the increase in the UK, and products containing raw pheasant are widely available online.