I spent my time yesterday afternoon at a local animal rescue place with Ben, a new arrival. He is an extremely large 9 year-old Rottweiller, who had been turned in by his previous owners. He had spent his life on a chain in a yard, so he was very overweight and under-exercised. His hips will probably require surgery. He could hardly walk. This dog is such a gentle creature and he loves cats and people. Dogs are so amazing and they forgive people so quickly.

Around his neck was a horrendous metal collar, which came with him. I was shocked to see a thing like this and I wonder how many other dogs are spending years with things like this on them. The marks on his neck were quite evident. He had worn this collar for years and it was much too small for him. The spikes, or prongs, were pointed towards his body when he came in, which must have been really painful. When I got there the collar had been reversed the collar so the prongs pointed away from the body.

Of course this resulted in a very quick trip to ShareKare pet store, so Ben is now sporting a great new-look collar in a wonderful jade colour. Quite the man around town!

Why on Earth are collars like this sold? I was told they might prevent barking as the dog suffers pain if he barks with one of these contraptions on. Supposedly some trainers use them for short-term training purposes, but I suspect that most buyers simply put them on and leave them on. If the owners presented a dog at the shelter with this collar, they clearly saw nothing wrong with the practice.

This fits my definition of cruelty. The poor old fellow! Let's hope that he finds a new home and that he can have the surgery which will probably be necessary.

Jean Martin
Lantzville

For more pictures of the collar and the wonderful old fellow see