Electric Fence, Should I Complain?

I don't want to give the people down the street a hard time but... They live on a busy main street. There's lots of foot traffic and car traffic as well. There are two public schools nearby with parents and students passing by daily.

I walk Sophie far from this house and walk on the opposite side even if I'm alone. The neighbors have an electric fence installed directly next to the sidewalk. I don't know the breed of dog, looks like a black collie, border collie mix perhaps?

But you see it barking and flinging itself up to the border. Then it's collar must shock it back to the edge of the yard. Scares you to pieces to see this huge black pup bounding towards you barking. Is it that hard for them to reset the fence further back? I dunno, thoughts?

Poor, poor dog.

Surely these people can see the cruelty of what they are doing. There are plenty of ways to keep the dog safe other than this sort of device, surely

I agree...I mean putting up a conventional fence is easier and cheaper n' you don't have to hurt your pup. Plus a physical barrier is just safer in general IMHO. I've read that some dogs can get determined enough to just run through the fence border. Plus you've got young kids that can stumble onto the lawn just before the dog comes racing over, it's just not a safe situation, on such a busy street especially.

Maybe you could have a word with the ASPCA and see what they say.

You might consider talking with them. It's possible that the collar has variable settings and they have it on too high and they can reduce the level. Or perhaps they can put up a visible barrier so the dog knows better where not to go. Also, pointing out the problems with the system may help.

Invisible fence is more likely to be abused than e-collars because most sets do not allow much fine tuning, and many use high settings. I don't like the stuff because if a dog does bolt through it, it will get shocked coming back in. Plus, it allows other people's dogs to come onto your property, but doesn't allow your dog to escape them. Bad trap if you have any wandering DA dogs in the neighborhood.