“Health and Wellness Co. for Pets” Petco removes electronic collars from inventory, offers up phony “Petco Certified Dog Trainers”
In an attempt to brand itself as “the health and wellness company for pets,” Petco announced on Tuesday that it had removed “shock collars” from its inventory.
“Electricity may be critical to powering your microwave,” Petco CEO Ron Coughlin wrote in a press release, “but it has no role for the average pet parent training their dog.” Coughlin continued: “Shock collars have been shown to increase fear, anxiety and stress in dogs, and we believe there’s a better way….Pet parents will be encouraged to try products and services rooted in positive reinforcement training methods backed by experts, including a newly launched online training program, as well a suite of private and in-home training classes, all led by more than 1,200 Petco Certified Dog Trainers.”
However, Petco Certified Dog Trainers are not actually required to be “certified” by any legitimate dog trainer certification program.
As for the issue of electronic collars, there are two sides to the story. “Like a lot of bird hunters, I use e-collars,” Eric Barker wrote recently in The Lewiston Tribune. “They allow long-range communication and correction between dog and handler. Most of the time when I push the button on the transceiver, it’s just to send a vibration to get the dog’s attention….”
Much more on this to come.