Collar ban error

We very much hope that the government will resist attempts to ban electric collars (your report, 9 January), or the next ban will be electric fences, because they might be cruel to persons or animals.

We are the owners of our fourth Border Collie, who is hard-wired to follow the scent of roe deer, which are plentiful in the fields and woods around our village. No amount of cuddles, treats or training in the artificial environment of a big shed could overcome the attractions of roe deer poo.

Happily, an electric dog collar purchased three years ago at a long-established Perth field sports shop has provided a solution, and I cannot now recall when the shock button was pressed as our collie returns quickly with the buzz button.

It has to be remembered that the strength of the shock can be turned down, just as the shock from an electric fence.

We are convinced that the careful use of an electric collar is kinder on human and dog partnerships than waiting several hours till hunting roe (which she never gets near) becomes boring or our Collie bitch makes her own way home and has to cross a country road with fast cars.

Thomas and Helen Huxley

Pitcairngreen

Perth and Kinross