# The ShOcKeR: Scat Mat vs Massage Mat



## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

I noticed a shock mat being sold on prop sites for big $$$. Checked around and saw that they seem to be the same thing as a Scat Mat (far cheaper) and supposedly safe enough for a cat or Yorkie to contact, so I don't get the paranoia that I found in a HF forum thread from 2009 about this. From there I found what has to be one of my favorite post quotes from *Joker*:

_So pretty much anything that can cause harm in anyway should not be done in a haunt and if it is willingly done then the owner of the haunt will or can be held liable? And, there is really nothing the haunt owner can do about it to protect himself?

So where is the line drawn or is it?
No fog machines (asthmatics)
No strobes (epileptics)
No hard surfaces (idiots)? _

Still, I have to be open to giving into the lawsuit fear and check into safe / lame options. The best I could find are motorized massage mats with little rotating massage heads inbedded in a 5ftx20in cushioned mat. The lameness could only be obscured by maybe putting it against a wall at the end of a dark passage...where one might extend an arm to find the wall and get a slight startle.

So what says the forum? Ample posted warnings and the shock mat on a wall set at the weakest setting? Or massage mat in a dark area and hope people are more easily startled than I assume?

Before anyone screams lawsuit, note that I will have heavy strobe and fogger use, and there is always a risk one's Chinese plastic animated props can activate and break, whacking a patron. I mean... there are always risks. I am not talking about making a mat with a car battary....


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Not sure how well those scat mats will work, based on this review on a PetSmart site: _"I bought this product to keep my coonhound/beagle mix off the counters. Both him and my lab completely ignore the shock and will eat directly off the pad." _Of course, any dog owner can tell you a dog will ignore almost any deterrent if food is involved

As for human use, the site also had this to say (I've highlighted the relevant statement as far as your intended use goes):

_"American and Canadian humane societies, the Canadian Council on Animal Welfare, and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association have deemed Scat Mats an acceptable product for use in situations where positive reinforcement is not effective. They consider the Scat Mat to be a humane, and potentially life-saving product. *The electrical energy emitted by the Scat Mat is extremely small. If a small child comes in contact with the mat, he or she will recoil from it, just as an unsuspecting adult will*."_


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