Where Shock Collars Are Banned (and Where Canada Stands)

“Shock collars are banned everywhere now, right?”

Nope. And a lot of what you’ll read online about bans is out of date, overstated or both. England’s “2024 ban” never happened. Quebec’s “shock collar ban” is really a prong collar ban plus a strongly worded warning. So we went to the legislation, the government pages and the veterinary bodies, and wrote down exactly what each one says.

Here’s the map, with the fine print.

The Quick Table

“Use” means it’s an offence to put one on a dog. “Sale” means shops can’t sell them. Most laws target use, not sale.

BC SPCA’s 2026 AnimalKind standards also list shock collars as illegal in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden, plus New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT in Australia. We couldn’t open those countries’ legislation pages ourselves, so they aren’t in the table. Take them as “reported by BC SPCA”.

Wales: The One Everyone Cites

The Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (Wales) Regulations 2010 are short and clear. They define an electronic collar as “a collar designed to administer an electric shock”. It’s an offence to attach one to a cat or dog, to cause one to be attached, or to be responsible for a cat or dog wearing one.

The penalty on summary conviction is up to 51 weeks in prison, a level 5 fine, or both. The rules came into force on 24 March 2010.

One thing people get wrong: Wales banned the use, not the sale. The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s 2023 report says so directly.

England: The Ban That Wasn’t

This is the big one online stories get wrong.

In 2023 the UK government laid draft regulations to ban remote-controlled e-collars in England from 1 February 2024. The draft made it an offence to attach a collar that sends “an electric current” when activated by a remote control. It didn’t ban sale.

Then it was pulled. In a February 2024 written answer, the Defra minister confirmed the regulations had been withdrawn. He said going ahead “would have left an unacceptably short window for pet owners to adapt their training methods”, and that the government “remains committed to introducing a ban”.

Then in December 2025, the government’s new Animal Welfare Strategy “proposes consulting on a ban on electric shock collars”, according to Dogs Today. A consultation isn’t a ban. As of this writing, shock collars are legal in England.

A promised ban is still just a promise. Your dog can’t wait for Parliament.

Scotland and Northern Ireland: Guidance, Not Law

Scotland’s 2018 Guidance on Dog Training Aids says the Scottish Government does not condone “electronic shock (static pulse) collars”. But it’s guidance, not a ban. Misusing a device could still count as causing unnecessary suffering under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

In 2023 the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission recommended that e-collar use for training “should be prohibited in Scotland”. In January 2025, an amendment to ban them was defeated by 28 votes to 84. By August 2025, the Royal Kennel Club was still noting that shock collars “have remained legal in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland”.

The British Veterinary Association says Northern Ireland “doesn’t have any specific legislation relating to electric shock collars”. The BVA wants a full ban on sale and use across the UK.

Europe: Switzerland, Germany, Austria and France

Switzerland. The federal vet office’s page on handling dogs says it’s forbidden to use prong collars or pull collars without a stop, and to use “devices that deliver electrical stimuli, produce unpleasant noises or act chemically”. Therapeutic use is only allowed by specially qualified people with cantonal approval.

Germany. Section 3 of the Animal Welfare Act forbids using a device that, through direct electric current, significantly restricts a dog’s normal behaviour or forces movement and causes considerable pain, suffering or harm, “unless this is permitted under federal or state law”. So it’s a ban with a legal exceptions clause.

Austria. We couldn’t load Austria’s legislation database. A 2025 Scottish Animal Welfare Commission report says Austria has outlawed “collars that cause pain” such as prong collars, electric collars and collars without a stop.

France. Here’s a case of the internet running ahead of the law. That same 2025 Scottish report says France passed a bill in 2023 banning the sale of prong, choke and electronic collars. But in an August 2026 answer to a French senator, the minister said a 19 June 2025 decree prohibits “any pricking, electric or strangling device” for professional activities with pets. It doesn’t cover private owners. We’ve gone with the minister.

EU-wide. Europe’s vets want more. The 2024 joint position paper from the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe and partners calls for “a complete ban on the sale and use of electric pulse training devices”.

Canada: Legal, Discouraged, and One Strict City

Here it is plainly: no Canadian province bans shock collars outright. You can buy one and use it on your dog in most of the country.

Quebec comes closest. Its Règlement sur le bien-être et la sécurité des animaux domestiques de compagnie et des équidés (the provincial regulation on the welfare and safety of companion animals and equines) came into force on 10 February 2024.

• Section 24 says a collar or harness must not hamper breathing or cause pain or injury.
• Section 25 bans wearing a collar with inward-facing spikes, like a prong collar. Choke collars are banned when the dog is unsupervised or tied up.
• The official guide lists electric collars as “not recommended”. It says improper use of an electric collar can carry high risks of stress and pain, and then wouldn’t be tolerated under section 24. It adds that use “should be considered as a last resort, by a properly trained person”.

So Quebec banned the prong, not the shock collar. That’s also why Global News corrected a 2014 story: “Quebec has not banned certain dog collars; it recommends that those that hurt animals not be used.” Heads up: even the CVMA’s position statement says shock collars are banned in Quebec. The regulation text doesn’t say that. (The province’s own summary page mentions prong and choke collars, not electric ones.)

Montreal goes further. The city’s owner responsibilities page tells owners not to use a collar likely to cause pain, “e.g. choke collar, spiked collar, electric collar and martingale collar”. The SPCA de Montréal says electric collars and choke chains have been prohibited under the city’s by-law since 1 January 2020.

Toronto is a cautionary tale. In 2017 the city briefly banned choke and prong collars. The current Municipal Code Chapter 349 shows that section “was deleted by By-law 419-2017”. What survives is narrower: you can’t tether a dog where a choke collar, choke chain or prong collar forms part of the tether.

We searched for other Canadian municipal bans and didn’t find any we could verify. If your city has one, send us the by-law and we’ll add it.

What Canadian Vets and Humane Groups Say

The law lags. The professionals don’t.

• The CVMA says “remote controlled shock collars are not considered a necessary method of training or behaviour modification” and strongly discourages “choke, pinch, spray, prong or shock collars”.
• The BC SPCA opposes “choke chains, prong and shock collars”.
• BC SPCA’s AnimalKind accreditation standards prohibit accredited trainers from using, teaching, selling or advertising electronic shock collars (including remote, bark-activated and boundary fences), prong collars, choke chains, and slip collars used for training.

So in Canada, a trainer who uses a shock collar is breaking no law in most places. They’re just working against the country’s vets and its biggest provincial SPCA.

What to Do Instead

You were sold a tool. Now you know better. Here’s the upgrade, and it’s legal everywhere.

• Recall first. Most shock collars get bought for “come”. Start here: A Recall That Works Without a Remote.
• Pulling on walks? Stop Leash Pulling Without a Prong. In Quebec, the prong is already illegal to put on your dog.
• Picking a trainer? Use How to Spot a Trainer Who Uses Pain. In BC, look for AnimalKind accreditation.
• Gear swap. Ditch the Prong covers front-clip harnesses you can buy in Canada.
• Why bother, if it’s legal? Because the research says the collar doesn’t beat rewards. Read Shock Collars Don’t Teach.

Laws change slowly. You can change your dog’s gear this afternoon.