Investigation: the violent training of so-called defence dogs

The Ring, what is it?

Ring training is reserved for dogs of so-called defence breeds, mainly Malinois and German shepherds. Considered as a dog sport, it consists of obedience, jumping and biting tests during which dogs must for example jump palisades, bring back objects, refuse baits and attack and bite on command in different staging’s. Dogs must obey instantly, without thinking. They must be an extension of the one who controls them, real remote-controlled objects. And to turn a dog into a robot, into a weapon, you have to break it...

A difficult survey

Between 2014 and 2017, the investigators of One Voice infiltrated the very closed world of dog training. The methods used and what they could film, revealed incredible violence.

Threats, restraint table, electric shocks, whips, strangling ... Dogs have to bear everything. The credo of the trainers? For this to be effective, it must be painful. Choke collars have ground sharp tips, whips are equipped with round cable, and several electric collars can be used simultaneously ... The worst is probably the table of contention, on which the dog is tied short and whipped to bark and attack ... And if he tries to escape, he hangs himself! According to Dr. Nathalie Simon, a behavioural veterinarian and consultant for One Voice, these methods are like torture...

Continuous suffering

The ordeal of dogs does not stop at training. When they are no longer used, some are "tidied up or put away" like ordinary tools, locked most of the time in transport crates or car trunks, in the sun and without water. Sometimes the crates are placed in cellars. They come out of these cases only to suffer the blows. The cases are so small that they usually cannot stand up. And if they do not work well, they are deprived of food ... This is the terrible existence which they have lived since they left their mother. Since then, they have not had the slightest caress. And the training is such that they have unlearned a number of natural behaviours to mechanize their aggression, they bite on command and do not let go ... Finally, some become so dangerous that a family life would be impossible in their state. Moreover, for those who become uncontrollable, the outcome is often a life of guarding. They will have to walk for hours, muzzled and at the heal, without water or food, and go from hand to hand...

Dogs are not weapons!

This situation is untenable. The suffering of these dogs, as the danger they represent - the training has turned them into real weapons - cannot be tolerated!

Please sign the petition so that the training of so-called defence dogs is prohibited. Dogs are our companions. All have the right to be respected and loved.