Celebrity farmer calls for reversal of Welsh electric dog collar ban

Celebrity farmer Gareth Wyn Jones is urging the Welsh government to scrap its ban on electric dog collars.

Wales became the first UK region to outlaw the use of electric collars In 2010, with Scotland following suit in 2018.

Wyn Jones told the Telegraph that “you have to be cruel to be kind” and that a collar stopping a dog from chasing livestock was better than having to put a dog down after it had killed a sheep.

His comments came as the National Farmers’ Union released data showing that Welsh farmers suffered £306,068 in losses from dog attacks last year compared with £68,408 in Scotland.

Wyn Jones said: “The government is banning things because they believe that it is cruel, but what is crueller? For a sheep to be ripped to pieces or for a dog to have a little electric shock which is less than they get from a fence?

“These collars are a deterrent. You don’t have to be clever to understand that proper training can save lives – sheep lives, dogs’ lives, or even people’s lives as owners get into serious problems, and we have seen people trampled when they have a dog that is chasing livestock.”

He added: “The government has to go back and look at the evidence, they have to listen to the people on the ground.”

The Welsh Government has said that it has no plans to review the position, saying that e-collars “cause pain”.

However, some Welsh Conservatives have already been vocal in their opposition to the ban, with former Welsh Secretary David Jones saying that new data made clear that the “ban has failed and, paradoxically, is leading to many animal deaths”.