Okay for Dogs, but Not Kids?

A Salem, Oregon man made the news when police found out he was using a shock collar on his children. People were outraged to hear that he'd chased his three year old child with the collar, making the child cry, because he thought it was funny.

John Seroczynski, the national sales manager for D.T. Systems, a shock collar manufacturer, said it was not likely that the children were seriously injured.

He was obviously talking about physical injury, as he explained that no shock collar today would burn a person or dog and would not cause any serious physical injury.

I'll give him that, but every fiber of my being will stand firm in the opinion that those children have been seriously injured. Perhaps not physically, but absolutely emotionally. If there was no harm done, why would the father be in custody and why would any of us care?

Seroczynski said the collars are not to be used on humans.

"Regardless of what your kids are like, it's sure not going to cure any behavioral problems," he said. "Bottom line is, what he did was dead wrong."

Interesting. The shock collar isn't helpful for behavioral modification in children, but it works for dogs? It's "dead wrong" to use on children, even though it causes no physical injury, but it's okay to use on dogs?

I'm confused. As far as I know, dogs feel pain and they experience fear. I simply can't see the difference.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090506/NEWS/905060441/1001