A dog wearing a Petsafe deviceA PET shop in Swindon has been criticised for selling a collar which gives an electric shock when the dog wearing it barks.

North Wiltshire MP James Gray said the collar, which can be bought at

Paradise Pets, in Cheney Manor, was unnatural and verging on cruel.

He is spearheading a campaign to outlaw the sale of other electric shock

collars, including remote-control devices which allow owners to give their misbehaving dogs shocks from a distance of 300 yards.

The Petsafe Deluxe Control Bark Control Collar sold by Paradise Pets, at Manor Garden Centre, is made in the United States and costs £90. It is powered by a six-volt battery and has 18 different levels of shocks which can be applied when the dog wearing it barks.

Mr Gray said: "Barking is instinctive for a dog and to give it an electric shock is verging on cruel. Giving it a shock when it barks would seem unnatural and my gut instinct is that this is wrong."

Mr Gray has tabled a Parliamentary motion calling for the ban of more collars, which allow owners to administer shocks by remote control.

A total of 74 MPs have supported his campaign.

It calls on the Government to ban the sale of the collars within the Animal Welfare Bill, which is currently being debated in Parliament.

But Clare Saunders, a livestock assistant at Paradise Pets, said the collars only tweak the dog's muscles and can help train some pets.

She said: "I can see why people would want them banned but used properly they are fine.

"They work in a similar way to a Slendertone device rather than an electric shock where you hold two bare wires together.

"A rep gave us a demonstration and it feels like a tweak on your muscle.

"It can get to the stage where you want to drop it.

"People only use them as a last resort. I don't think they would be used for abuse because they cost so much.

"If people want to abuse their pets they will not pay £90 to do it."

Other Swindon pet shop owners have refused to stock the collars.

Celina Day, the assistant manager of Pets Corner, in Havelock Square, said: "They have been on the market for quite a while but we have never sold them because we think people may misuse them."

A spokeswoman for the pet shop at Toomer's Garden Centre in Lydiard, said: "We do not sell them because we do not approve of them."

RSPCA spokeswoman Jo Barr said: "We think it is totally unnecessary to use a shock to train a dog.

"It's safe to say we disapprove of these collars and any training method which causes pain and which isn't properly structured.

"We don't think any technical device which causes a dog pain should be used or on sale.

"That's our main concern not only should they not be used but also they shouldn't be for sale in the first place."