The Kennel Club recognises that the recent extreme weather
conditions have caused exceptional difficulties for both members of
the Assured Breeder Scheme and Kennel Club Breeder Assessors in
carrying out Kennel Assessment visits. To assist in this situation
the Kennel Club is making provision on a case by case basis for
Assured Breeders to delay inspection visits, whilst continuing to
accept registrations within the scheme, until the situation
improves.
It was announced in January that under new scheme requirements,
all Assured Breeders who have not been inspected since 1st January
2013, when UKAS standards were first adopted, are required to have
an inspection before they can sell and register their litters under
the Assured Breeder Scheme banner. Allowances were made for those
who mated their bitches before 1st January 2014, when the
announcement was first made, and who were not able to accommodate
an inspection visit before their pups were due to go to new
homes.
However, the Kennel Club is making provision for members who have
not been inspected to continue to sell their pups under the Assured
Breeder Scheme, where the extreme weather conditions have led to
delays in a mutually acceptable inspection date being able to be
agreed. These breeders will not receive UKAS accredited
certification until a successful inspection visit is completed and,
in order to be eligible for consideration for the extension delay,
breeders will still be required to tell the Kennel Club if they
have a litter planned or expected so that best attempts can be made
to prioritise their visit.
Bill Lambert, Assured Breeder Scheme Manager, said: "The recent
floods have made travel to some parts of the country untenable and
we understand that it is very difficult for our members in the
worst hit places to accommodate a visit. Furthermore, some of our
assessors have been finding it difficult to travel in the
treacherous conditions with, in one case, an assessor having to be
rescued from her car.
"As a result we will continue to be flexible with inspection
visits and, on a case by case basis, will enable breeders to
register their pups under the Assured Breeder Scheme if an
inspection visit cannot be accommodated in time. However, we do
require that breeders still cooperate fully and tell us if they
have a litter planned or due to that we can aim to accommodate as
many visits as possible, before their litters are sold."