The Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding thought that the AB Scheme was the way forward – why?

The Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding identified the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme as the best in the UK for monitoring the breeding and welfare standards of breeders. The Kennel Club is constantly updating the scheme and as Bateson suggested, it is already seeking UKAS accreditation for it. There is no other scheme that comes close to what the KCAB scheme offers and it is vital not only for helping to monitor and raise the standards of welfare and breeding but also for giving puppy buyers a recognisable group to which they can go, when looking to buy a puppy. It is very difficult to identify a good breeder and by going to somebody in the KCAB Scheme puppy buyers can be confident that they are signed up to a set of standards that ensure that they put the health and welfare of the puppies first.

The Kennel Club has been calling for more powers to control the breeding of dogs – why?

Becoming a member of and buying from a Kennel Club Assured Breeder are entirely voluntary choices. This means that there are still breeders out there that will not subscribe to these standards and that buyers will, often unwittingly, buy their puppies from. The Kennel Club’s Assured Breeder Scheme places a great emphasis on responsible breeding – and it is these overall standards and principles that the Kennel Club wants to make a mandatory requirement for all breeders. The powers will not be granted to the Kennel Club but instead we want it to become a statutory requirement that all dogs, registered or non Kennel Club registered - are bred to these overall standards.

While the KCAB goes a long way to improving puppy breeding and dog health the system is voluntary and so we therefore cannot make every breeder become part of the scheme or every puppy buyer use it.

The reason we have done this is plain and simple – the current system is not working. And at the moment we are forced to rely on the effectiveness of Local Authorities to be the arbiters of quality of care and to give or refuse breeding licences. Sadly, it is clear that this system is not curbing the activities of puppy farmers and the Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding recognised this.

The Kennel Club has therefore called for statutory intervention to curb the activities of those who are bringing the responsible dog breeding community into disrepute. It will then be able to raise the bar within its own Assured Breeder Scheme even higher. This will mean that the choice will no longer be between responsible and irresponsible breeders but only between responsible and excellent breeders.

If the Kennel Club does not grab the statutory bull by its horns now then the dog buying public will remain ignorant about how to distinguish between the good and the bad and so puppy farmers will continue to operate with a healthy profit; at the expense of healthy dogs.

Until such time as legislation is introduced education of puppy buyers is essential; if there is no demand for buying from a irresponsible breeder then they can no longer continue to trade.

Does this mean that you won’t be able to breed within the law unless you are members of the ABS and have KC registered breeds?

No. The Kennel Club has called for the standards and the principles of the scheme to be made mandatory, rather than the Assured Breeder Scheme itself and this will apply across the board, to all dogs, whether cross breed or pedigree. This means that all breeders, regardless of whether they register with the Kennel Club will be following basic good practice. Obviously, the Kennel Club wants to continually raise breeding standards and if basic standards are made mandatory then we will be in a position to raise the bar for those within the Assured Breeder Scheme even further, to further improve puppy health.

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Accredited Breeder Scheme (ABS) 

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