E-Collars or Shock Collars as some people refer to them are NOT banned in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland as of October 2025 and there is currently no proposed legislation in the pipeline!
Wales is a differnet matter!
So What About England, Scotland & Nothern Ireland?
E-Collars or Shock Collars as some people refer to them are NOT banned in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland as of October 2025 and there is currently no proposed legislation in the pipeline!
Well, contrary to popular belief, the law banning the use of E-Collars was not voted upon and therefore not enacted in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland. So therefore, there was no ban on E-Collar use as of the 1st of February 2024.
It is not to say that a law could not be enacted in the future but it seems that the weight of popular opinion in favour of E-Collar us in order to save the lives of livestock, wildlife and dogs was enough to stall the banning process. It actually says and awful lot about the weight of people power in the UK if it is focused on the right spot.
Nobody is gloating about this, it may well just be a reprieve. But many are content to let the old posts on the internet and social media to just sit and lull people into thinking E-Collars are illegal in the UK.
In fact. Here is an update as of the 17th of October 2025. I asked ChatGPT for clarification in a hope that ChatGpt would update it's own references and stop providing incorrect information to people.
Short answer: **No — e-collars aren’t currently illegal to use in England.**
What happened: the Government drafted the **Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations 2023** to ban remote-controlled shock collars from **1 Feb 2024**, but that statutory instrument was **never “made” (approved by both Houses)**, so it didn’t take effect. The official legislation site still lists it as a **draft**, not law. ([Legislation.gov.uk][1])
Helpful context (because the UK loves a patchwork):
* **Wales**: use is banned under separate Welsh regs (since 2010).
* **Scotland**: not banned; an attempt to add a ban in 2025 was voted down, with ministers talking about further debate/consultation. ([The Times][2])
Even in England, the general **Animal Welfare Act** still applies—if someone caused unnecessary suffering with any training device, they could face action. But as of today, simply owning/using a remote e-collar in England isn’t illegal. (Policy may change, but that’s the current state of play.) ([Legislation.gov.uk][3])
See Below where Jamie Penrith At ARDO takes the BBC to task re it's biased reporting in relation to an E-Collar ban!
This Really Was A Victory For Common Sense, A Victory For The Countless Sheep, Deer & Other Wild Animals That Have been Saved Via the Sendible Use Of E-Collars & Above All A Victory For the Freedom Of All Dogs to Exercise Off Leash Where Appropriate. Secure In The Knowledge That Here Means Here!
Share this post: