Shock collar
| Health risk | Moderate |
|---|---|
| Legal risk | Mild |
A shock collar, sometimes known as a remote training collar or e-collar, is a type of training collar that uses electronic stimulation. These devices are designed for use on dogs, and there are no commercially available collars designed for use on humans.
Background
Appeal
Methods
Some common placement locations for shock collars include:
- The ankles
- The calves
- The thighs
- The testicles
- The neck - see notes on risks below
Risks
Health risks
As shock collars involve the use of electricity, similar risks to those posed by erotic electrostimulation apply.
As the neck is the only connection from the head to the rest of the body, it contains numerous critical organs and nerves. If these were to be damaged, serious injury or death could result. With that said, in medical literature, there are no documented cases of shock collars directly causing fatalities or permanent injury on humans.
On dogs, the most common injury resulting from shock collar use is pressure necrosis (a localized injury to the skin and/or underlying tissue as a result of pressure) from the prongs of the collar. This is generally a result of improper fit of the collar or prolonged wear.[1]
Wireless security
In addition to health risks of the use of the shock collar, it is also important to consider that because shock collars use wireless communication, anyone in range with the proper tools and knowledge may be able to activate the collar, either by exploiting weaknesses in the protocol or simply recording and replaying the signal.[2] In some cases, this may be able to bypass any safety systems that are built in to the shock collar module. More expensive name brand shock collar modules may provide some protection against these attacks.
Risk mitigation
To reduce the risk of pressure necrosis, some manufacturers offer "comfort pads" that can reduce pressure on the skin and increase the contact area.[3]
Most practitioners of this kink recommend avoiding the neck if possible and instead placing the collar on other areas of the body. If that is not feasible, avoid the front and back of the neck and instead use the sides.
Other things to consider:
- What protections does the shock collar have against inadvertent activation? Does it have a timeout to prevent it from getting stuck on?
Known incidents
Medical case reports
RACKWiki incident reports
References
- ↑ "Product Safety". PETT Partnership. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ↑ Kuester, Tim. "DEFCON23 / WCTF: Shock Collar as a Service". GitHub Gist. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ↑ "TITANIUM COMFORT PAD". Dogtra.com.