Councillors in Renfrewshire are to be asked to call for a ban on shock collars for dogs.

A motion has been submitted by Councillor Andy Doig and Councillor Eileen McCartin, urging their fellow elected members to agree to write to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission in a bid to have the controversial devices outlawed at the “earliest opportunity.”

The collars can be used as a way of training dogs and work by delivering an electric charge to control their behaviour.

But many believe the method is cruel, with the devices able to deliver shocks of up to 6,000 volts.

The Scottish Government vowed to prohibit the collars in 2018 but, three years on, it is still legal to use them.

Back in 2017, Renfrewshire Council agreed to write to ministers to request a ban, suggesting the devices had “no place” in modern dog training.

But, since then, there has been no real progress made, prompting Councillor Doig to press the council’s case again.

He said: “I think things have changed a lot in the last 50 years. People used to think the best way to train a dog was to show them who the boss is but now people have come to the position where it’s accepted that, if we want to build a relationship with a dog, we have to do it positively.

“Dogs are often regarded as members of people’s families and we need to change how we look at them. We don’t smack kids anymore, so why should we punish dogs like this?”

The Scottish Government has stressed it does not condone the use of shock collars as training devices but legislation to make them illegal has yet to be put in place.

The motion which will be put before Renfrewshire Council at a meeting tomorrow states that it “regrets the prevarication of the Scottish Government on the question of banning shock collars.”