Dog lovers were left delighted on Sunday after news of the government’s ban on the controversial electric shock collars in England was announced.

Environment secretary Michael Gove revealed the news after campaigners had spent years fighting to get the devices outlawed.

The collars give pooches an electric shock when they misbehave and are already prohibited in Wales and Scotland.

Sunday also marked the fourth and final day of the world’s biggest dog show, Crufts, and audiences were treated to a light-hearted demonstration set up by organisers to celebrate the announcement.

A performance showed a four-legged-friend stroll across the Good Citizen Dog Scheme Ring at the NEC Arena with one of the collars in its mouth, before dropping it in the bin, while a fellow pooch covered its eyes with its paw at the sight of the device.

And Caroline Kisko, general secretary of organisers the Kennel Club, revealed the announcement was a just reward after a long fight against the authorities.

“To us, at the Kennel Club, we’ve been campaigning for this for nearly 15 years, so it’s absolutely fantastic,” she said.

“We found through our own research and others too it is very damaging to dogs – when a dog experiences the shock, it’s frightened, it’s in pain and it doesn’t know when that shock will come again.

“You’ve now got a dog who’s fearful and doesn’t understand what you want from it.

“I went around the ring on Sunday and asked people for their views on the dog collar – I had one in my hand and the looks of horror we saw – you couldn’t put that on your dog.”

The pooches, supplied by Stunt Dogs and Animals, earned applause and cheers from the audience as their display symbolised the sigh of relief shown by dog breeds and owners.

Some argue that certain types of dog need an aggressive form of discipline in order to train them in the art of obedience.

But for dog owner and trainer Carolyn Menteith, electric shock collars are simply too severe for such a treatment.

“No more will dogs be trained in fear and pain,” she said. “People have realised just how barbaric these devices are. They are finally consigned to history.

“Electric shock collars are such a damaging way to train dogs. They are trained through fear and pain – some people say it’s only a little tingle or a static – I’ve tried them and on people and they really hurt. If they didn’t hurt, they wouldn’t work.

“Crufts 2018 has proven to be one of the bet ones I’ve been to for a long time. The feeling here is great, it’s all very positive and all about the love of dogs.

“To close that on the final with the announcement that we’ve finally banned electric shock collars in the UK, it doesn’t get better than that.”

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