City Council members are exploring the possibility of allowing the use of shock collars on dogs as a means of control when residents take them off of their property. This topic came up when a Kingston Way Drive resident addressed Council at the May 19 Council Safety Committee meeting.
The following, is the current city ordinance regarding the containment of dogs:
“618.01 DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS RUNNING AT LARGE.
(a) No person who is the owner, keeper or harborer of horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, dogs, cats, geese or other fowl or animals shall permit any such fowl or animal to run at large upon any public way or upon unenclosed land.
(b) No owner, keeper or harborer of any dog shall permit it to go beyond the premises of the owner, keeper or harborer at any time unless the dog is properly on leash.
(c) No owner, keeper or harborer of any dog shall fail at any time to keep the dog physically confined or restrained upon the premises of the owner, keeper or harborer by voice and/or signal command, leash, tether, adequate fence, or secure enclosure to prevent escape. “Electronic” (invisible) fences are not acceptable as providing sufficient control to meet the requirements for confinement.
(d) Whoever violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree and shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section 698.02.
(Ord. 12-86. Passed 5-15-12.)”
The resident came to Council after a neighbor filed a complaint against him, for walking his two German shepherds without a leash. He noted that both were in full control through the use of the shock collars. The resident wanted the collars to be a consideration as a means to control a dog. He showed video of how well his dogs were controlled through the use of shock collars, stating “if you can control a human with a taser, you can control a dog with this collar.”
Shock collars were initially used in the late 1960s to train hunting dogs. A shock collar, also known as an e-collar electronic collar, or remote training collar, is a dog collar that delivers electrical stimulation of varying intensity and duration to the neck of a dog with a radio-controlled device. The collars are operational through the use of a tone or vibration with the shock, which some say are similar to the feeling of a shock a person experiences from static. Some collar models also include a tone or vibrational setting, as an alternative to or in conjunction with the shock.
Assistant Law Director, Donna Vozar, talked about the current regulations in place. She urged Council to have police, animal control and manufacturers weigh in on the matter before they make any decisions to move forward. The topic remains on the Safety Committee meeting agenda for further discussion.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer