The Kennel Club is calling for those experienced in all aspects of the dog world to join its Accredited Breeder Scheme’s team of Regional Breeder Advisers, who will play a crucial part in helping the Kennel Club to ensure that the high standards of the Scheme are maintained.

The Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme, which was created in 2004, now has more than 4,000 members throughout the country, who have all agreed to follow the basic principles of good breeding practice.

One important aspect of the Scheme’s success is that all members must agree to allow Kennel Club Breeder Advisers access to inspect their premises.

The Kennel Club has already sent an application form to those who have previously expressed an interest in the role and as the Scheme continues to grow in size and stature the Kennel Club is enlisting the help of further. Advisers, who will help the Kennel Club to continue fulfilling its obligation to puppy buyers by providing quality control checks on its members. A decision to recruit additional Breeder Advisers was announced by the Kennel Club in October 2008.

The role is open to all those with experience and interest in the canine world. All applicants will be considered by the Kennel Club and preference will be given to those with knowledge of dog breeding and who have a good understanding of the Scheme. The role is a voluntary one but all expenses will be covered and full training and mentoring will be provided.

Bill Lambert, Head of the Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme, said: “The Accredited Breeder scheme is continually growing in size, as more and more people recognise the vital role that it plays in protecting the health and welfare of newly bred puppies.

“We are delighted to have now gone past the 4,000 members mark and in order to continue running our robust system of inspections, we need an experienced network of Breeder Advisers to be in place across the country. We know that there is a wealth of experience out there and we are now calling on that experience to help us shape the Scheme’s development.

“The recruitment of Breeder Advisers is one of the many steps that we have taken continually to improve and refine the Scheme and we now visit many applicants before they join us. Additionally, we have built up a system of accolades that reward the most experienced within the scheme, who are setting an exceptional example that others can aspire to. These accolades and the health tests that we require for certain breeds are always  evolving as the Scheme continually develops.

“I have no doubt that the Scheme will continue to grow  and my hope is that every responsible breeder will come under the KCAB umbrella, thereby ensuring puppy buyers can easily distinguish those who follow basic standards of good breeding practice from disreputable breeders who play on public ignorance in order to make a sale.”

Accredited Breeders have all agreed to sign up to Kennel Club standards for responsible breeding, which include following guidelines about the maximum age and frequency of litters, providing post-sales advice, proper whelping and kennelling facilities and agreeing to give their dogs the required health tests for their breed. The Kennel Club, in addition to running a system of inspections, has various other checks in place to monitor the credentials of its members, which include continually monitoring puppy feedback forms and running pre-acceptance checks on all new members.

The continued growth and development of the Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme comes as the Kennel Club calls on the government to make the principles and standards of the Accredited Breeder Scheme compulsory throughout the country. This means that anybody who does not follow responsible breeding practice, whether they breed pedigrees or cross breeds and whether they register with the Kennel Club or not, will be unable to sell puppies within the law.

If this were to become law then the Kennel Club would be able to push the bar even higher within the Accredited Breeder Scheme, to ensure the choice is always between responsible and excellent breeders, rather than ever being between responsible and disreputable ones. Dog lovers can show their support by signing the Kennel Club’s petition at www.fitforfunction.org.uk

Those interested in becoming Regional Breeder Advisers should contact Angela Cliffe at angela.cliffe@thekennelclub.org.uk or phone 020 7518 1015. The deadline for applications is the end of July.

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Accredited Breeder Scheme (ABS), Responsible Dog Breeding 

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