Campaigners have made a fresh plea for a ban on electric shock collars for dogs, saying the use of the devices appears to be on the increase.
Siobhan Garrahy has lodged a petition at the Scottish Parliament calling on MSPs to urge the Scottish Government to outlaw the collars.
Ms Garrahy told Holyrood’s Public Petitions Committee there are an estimated 50,000 of the devices in use in Scotland.
She was joined by Claire Staines, a dog trainer and behaviourist, who said: “Because the shock collars themselves are non-regulated, it’s very difficult to see the exact numbers.
“From a professional point of view I’m seeing an increase in the use of them for various different reasons and I don’t know why.
“The thing that I would like to do is try and put a cap on that so that they don’t become more popular.
“As it stands just now it’s still relatively small numbers in the grand scale of things, but what we do want to do is just get the message out to dog owners that these are inhumane, they are painful, their very design is to be aversive and there is an alternative.”
Ms Garrahy added: “We believe that electric shock collars don’t have the governance they should have there’s very poor legislation for them.
“They cause psychological distress, severe anxiety, emotional harm and displaced aggression, and there is an alternative with positive reinforcement and appropriate training that doesn’t deliver via cruel methods.
“There are several dangers with electric shock collars, some of which are that the remote collars or the shock collars can fall into the hands of children who find amusement in shocking pets for no reason because they’re too young to know better.
“There’s also the danger of the collars being misused by cruel people who take pleasure in hurting animals.
“The collars have been known to cause burns on pets and severe disfigurement, and shock collars can be misused by putting them on other animals.”
The Scottish SPCA and several other animal charities and organisations oppose collars as either a training or compliance tool.
The use of the devices was outlawed in Wales in 2010 but they are still legal in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.
MSP Christine Grahame led a member’s debate at Holyrood earlier this year calling for a ban.
The committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government to clarify its position on the issue and to contact a range of other organisations for their input, including the Association of Pet Behavioural Counsellors, Electronic Collar Manufacturers Association and the Scottish SPCA.