§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what guidelines he has issued to (i) police authorities and (ii) the Prison Service on the use of dog collars that administer electric shocks to the animals; [3073]
(2) which (i) police authorities, (ii) prisons and (iii) sectors of the Prison Service are using dog collars that administer electric shocks to the animals; [3074]
(3)what is the number of dogs owned by (i) the police and (ii) the Prison Service on which electric shock dog collars (a) have been used and (b) are being used. [3075]
§ Miss Widdecombe[holding answers 11 November 1996]: The Prison Service has possessed an electric collar since January 1994. It is kept at the national dog training centre and has been used a total of seven times on six dogs.
The electric collar is not currently being used on any dog and is only ever used in accordance with the policy guidelines issued on 19 July 1996. These guidelines state that the electric collar will be used only when authorised by the head of the NDTC. It will be used on adult dogs as part of a training course or remedial training and only as a last resort when other methods of attempting to correct the dog in control-related exercises have failed. The collar is not to be used as a short-term solution for problems that can be resolved by other more traditional and acceptable methods. All uses of the collar are registered at the NDTC.
The police have no national guidelines for the use of electric dog collars and information on its use is not collected centrally.