The Kennel Club is rallying all dog breeders and owners in Wales to respond to a fresh consultation being held by the Welsh Assembly Government, to determine the future of dog breeding. The call by the Kennel Club comes after a week of meetings with Assembly Members and Welsh dog breeders to discuss the issue.
 
The Kennel Club met with Welsh Assembly representatives to discuss the issue and ask that they carefully consider how effective enforcement can be assured without the danger of local authorities adopting a ‘low hanging fruit’ approach of conducting inspections on breeders whose licence fee is easy to obtain, as opposed to dealing with the more difficult, unscrupulous breeders who may require more time and resources.
 
Whilst on the whole the Kennel Club welcomes the changes made in the regulations in achieving a fairer balance between encouraging responsible breeding and stamping out puppy farming, it still has some concerns regarding the trigger for requiring a licence being reduced from five to three litters in a year.
 
Kennel Club Health and Breeder Services Manager, Bill Lambert commented: “These proposed regulations are set out to deal with puppy farmers, usually regarded as those intensive volume breeders who have little regard or consideration for the basic needs and care of the dogs concerned.
 
“Reducing the threshold from five litters to three though will serve no purpose other than to waste limited local authority resources inspecting small scale breeders, most of whom breed dogs as a hobby, and delaying the time it takes to get to the disreputable establishments.”
 
Following the 2011 elections in Wales and the appointment of a new Minister, the Kennel Club and Welsh Kennel Club have been engaging with the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs department to ensure that dog breeders are adequately represented in the ongoing work to secure workable and improved regulations.
 
The Kennel Club is therefore urging all interested parties to respond to the consultation, which closes on 27th March 2012, to make their views known. Consultation documents and information can be found on the Welsh Assembly website at www.wales.gov.uk/animalwelfare.
 
Kennel Club Secretary, Caroline Kisko added: “The changes made in the revised regulations have generally been welcomed by the Kennel Club and we congratulate the Welsh Assembly Companion Animal Welfare Team for taking into consideration the comments made. The Welsh Assembly received over 500 responses to the original consultation last year - the largest ever received for an animal welfare issue, proving that this is a subject which really captures the hearts and minds of a large number of people in Wales.
 
“We are therefore calling on anyone who agrees that further work needs to be done regarding these regulations to make their views known.”
 
Letters have been sent to all Kennel Club Assured Breeders and registered breed clubs in Wales, as well as a call out via its social media platforms to encourage as many people as possible to respond to the consultation. A Kennel Club briefing on the draft regulations is available online at www.thekennelclub.org.uk/stoppuppyfarming.
 
ENDS
[022.12]
31st January 2012
 
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The Kennel Club is the largest organisation in the UK devoted to dog health, welfare and training. Its objective is to ensure that dogs live healthy, happy lives with responsible owners.

It runs the country’s largest registration database for both pedigree and crossbreed dogs and the Petlog database, which is the UK’s largest reunification service for microchipped animals. The Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme is the only scheme in the UK that monitors and sets standards for breeders, in order to protect the welfare of puppies and breeding bitches. It also runs the UK’s largest dog training programme, the Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme and licenses shows and clubs across a wide range of activities, which help dog owners to bond and enjoy life with their dogs. The Kennel Club runs the world’s greatest dog show, Crufts, and the Discover Dogs event at Earls Court, London, which is a fun family day out that educates people about how to buy responsibly and care for their dog.

The Kennel Club invests in welfare campaigns and the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, which supports dog welfare charities and research into dog diseases and also into dog training and education programmes. The Kennel Club jointly runs health screening schemes with the British Veterinary Association and through the Charitable Trust, funds the Kennel Club Genetics Centre at the Animal Health Trust, which is at the forefront of pioneering research into dog health.
 

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