Shock tactics: can electric dog collars ever be ethical?

Last year, the government announced plans to ban remote-control collars - but even a dog-owning minister is using one. So what is the truth about these training aids?

Is it cruel to give your pet electric shocks? Just little ones? The work and pensions secretary, Thi(C)rise Coffey, has come under fire for using one on her beagle-pug cross, Lola, which reportedly kept trying to attack other dogs. She spoke to Steve Andrews, a Suffolk dog trainer, who recommended an electric collar to help control Lola's behaviour. This seemed to work, and Andrews has since asked Coffey to help to overturn the government's plans for a ban on remote-control collars. Awkwardly, the plans were announced by Michael Gove last year, when Coffey was a minister in his department.

"Thi(C)rise's dog responds on setting 11 [out of 100]," Andrews told the Eastern Daily Press. "She felt what that was like and could feel nothing " This is not cruel. Thi(C)rise and her family are dog lovers doing the best for their pet."