Unique investigation: One Voice denounces the violence used in the sport of dog obedience training

20.09.2017

The investigators of One
Voice have infiltrated a dozen French dog training centres between
2014 to 2017 known as defence for sporting purposes (obedience
trials) or security (guarding). The images and proof they have just
brought back illustrates the violence used in the training of these
dogs, which end up aggressive and dangerous.

This
activity, which has nothing to do with leisure, feeds the networks
with so called working dogs. It causes the abandonment of dogs that
have become aggressive and dangerous. This situation leads to the
unfortunate and predictable accidents leading to them being put down.
One Voice is calling for a ban on this type of dog training, dog
training involving biting and of so-called “defence dogs”
that turn them into lethal weapons. It is a question of respect for
the dog as a sentient being, but also a question of national
security. All dogs are entitled to the respect and warmth of a loving
home.

The conditions of the investigation

The
ring (obedience trial) is the most popular dog sport in France with
over 7000 licensed members and nearly 750 clubs registered in 2016
(1). The dog training community of the Ring in France is a very
closed organisation and the trainers are suspicious of any newcomers.
In took three years for the investigators of One Voice to be fully
accepted, and to be able to film with a hidden camera the activities
of several centres, including some very famous ones. Their
observations were reported (to read or download the investigation
you’ll find it at the bottom of this page).

What is the Ring ?

Considered
as a canine sport, training for the Ring consists of obedience,
jumping and biting tests in which dogs must, for example, jump
fences, bring back objects, refuse bait and attack and bite on
command, in different stages. Dogs must obey instantly, without
thinking. They must be an extension of whoever controls them (the
“handler”). The Ring is reserved for so-called defence
dogs, mainly Malinois and German shepherds.

Instead
of a fun activity of complicity between the human and the dog, the
fusion that seems so perfect during competitions is far from the
fruit of a wonderful communication. It is actually based on a violent
denaturation of the animal.

A
dog “handler” explains: “In the Ring, it is completely
robotic, it is a mechanical thing. The dog is just a robot that
obeys, we teach it, it learns very quickly. Not so much a robot,
since it is learning, but it can only do what it is taught. In the
Ring, it has no opportunity for anything else, there is no freedom
for the dog, it is completely submissive.”

Unacceptable training conditions, similar to methods of torture

The
coercive methods observed are the result of mistreatment or even
cruelty: cries, electrocution, spiked collars, choking by hanging,
whipping and lashing, brutal hits from whips and cables, deprivation
of food, all are common practices from a very young age. The
investigators filmed many scenes and discussions which are visible on
the site that is dedicated to this campaign.

The behaviour of dogs is irreparably transformed

This
type of training does not only treat the dog as an object, it turns
it into a weapon. While the authorities established a law in 2008
prohibiting biting, these dogs are transformed into real killing
machines for the purpose of leisure.

Muriel
Arnal, president of One Voice, says:

“Training
dogs for the Ring is not a hobby. It is organized torture, with the
sole objective of satisfying the ego and the need for domination of
those who orchestrate and publicize it. How many dogs are sacrificed
and how many dramatic accidents will it take to put an end to this
legalized cruelty, which turns dogs into weapons? One Voice is
calling for a ban on this type of dog training and the training of
so-called defence dogs.”

These practices are obviously
sources of suffering for dogs, who seek only to protect themselves
from punishment by submitting to the contradictory orders of their
trainer. This violence condemns these dogs to isolation outside of
the training: isolation made necessary due the potential danger they
pose towards other beings. Trainers “put them away” like
equipment into transport crates, into car trunks or in cellars.
Deprived of the love of a home, subjected to extreme violence the
rest of the time, their confinement, which in itself is a matter of
abuse, reinforces their aggressiveness. One Voice recently complained
in several cases about dogs detained in this way.

(1)
General Terms of Use 2016