The Kennel Club believes that dog breeding should be regulated and that more breeders should be brought into the licencing scheme to uphold the health and welfare of dams and their puppies. We believe, however, that any measures imposed on breeders must be proportionate, easily and fairly enforced.
Our work
We have consistently engaged with policymakers to advocate for better enforcement of breeding regulations and for measures which more easily enable puppy buyers to identify responsible breeders.
It is our belief that collaboration is the key to improving enforcement and maintaining high standards of breeding.
See our Collaboration is Key breeding reports below to find out more about breeding regulations in England, Scotland, and Wales.
The Kennel Club's Collaboration is Key report
England
Our new report highlights to the Westminster Government that the current breeding regulations need overhauling in order that micro breeders i.e. those breeding one or two litters per year or even less frequently, are not put off of breeding dogs. A domestic supply of healthy puppies is crucial to turn people off of buying puppies from unscrupulous breeders and importers and ensure the long-term health and welfare of pet dogs.
Read our detailed explanation of the English regulations.
Impact on supply
We recently carried out a Freedom of Information request project to ascertain if Regulations were targeting commercial breeders and if the number of licences issued to 5 plus litter breeders had increased. Instead, we found that nearly two thirds of licences are being issued to one and two litter breeders, and the number of licences being issued to those breeding three or more has dwindled significantly.
Given that the intention behind the new regulations was to ensure that high volume breeders are operating responsibly and safely, it is disappointing to see low-volume breeders – who often do not have the resources or finances to meet the extensive requirements – overrepresented in the figures.
Each year, The Kennel Club registers approximately one third of puppies bred in the UK – around 250,000 puppies per year. Following the introduction of the licensing regulations in England, 18,000 fewer puppies were registered with The Kennel Club, meaning that the domestic dog market saw a total shortfall of approximately 75,000 puppies. We have heard from many low-volume breeders who plan to either reduce the number of litters they breed per year or stop breeding altogether as a direct result of the burdensome licensing requirements they must now meet.
Given that 87% of breeders registered with The Kennel Club breed one to two litters per year, a significant reduction in their breeding activity prompts a number of concerns regarding the dog breeding sector and the market supply. Prospective puppy buyers will now have less opportunity to buy from reputable, responsible breeders who have raised their puppies in a loving home environment, as the gap in the market is filled by unethical, low welfare puppy importers and puppy farmers.
Complex regulations
Determining whether a breeder who breeds fewer than three litters per year meets the criteria set out in a business test is a complex process which can be interpreted in a different way depending on the local authority. Whether low volume breeders will require a licence is a postcode lottery, with some local authorities telling breeders that they will require a licence if they advertise even one puppy for sale. The reliability of this enforcement method is questionable, given that 65% of breeders do not rely on advertising pups for sale due to having waiting lists and over 80% of those advertising using non-commercial websites.
For those breeding three or four litters in a 12 month period, the licensing system is too complex, bureaucratic, and expensive. It places the same burden on those who breed three litters within a year as high-volume breeders.
What is The Kennel Club calling for?
A one size fits all regulatory framework isn’t working and is even benefiting backstreet breeders. We would therefore advocate for a tiered approach to breeding regulations whereby for example, the regulatory framework would vary depending on the volume of litters a breeder breeds.
More flexibility could be brought into the regime to consider whether health testing and screening has been acknowledged.
To further encourage good breeding practices, the Government could work more closely with The Kennel Club and breed clubs to facilitate a mentoring programme whereby those who breed more frequently or have more knowledge of breeding dogs are paired with people who are planning their first litter of puppies.
To assist puppy buyers, puppy contracts similar to The Kennel Club puppy contract should be mandated to help ensure all breeders are adhering to basic health and welfare standards, including taking their puppy back if the new owner is unable to look after it, to relieve the strain put on rescue centres.
A contract, supported by an educational/behavioural change campaign, would provide some form of assurance that their breeder is reputable. Additionally, to follow what has been put in place in Scotland, the Government could develop a Code of Practice for those looking to purchase a puppy to try to ensure the process is fully considered.
Get in touch with your local MP
Email your local MP - find yours over on the UK parliament website.
If emailing in please include your name and postal address at the end of your email.
Here is a template letter you can use:
Dear [MP’s Name],
Re: Responsible Dog Breeding
I am writing to you not only as your constituent but also as a dedicated dog breeder who registers litters with The Royal Kennel Club. The Royal Kennel Club is the only welfare centric organisation representing dog breeders, including myself and has recently launched their own Health and Welfare standard to incentivise their community of breeders to carry out breed specific health tests on their breeding stock.
Ethical breeders, like me, are committed to raising healthy, well-adjusted puppies, but we face serious challenges competing against irresponsible and often illegal breeding operations. Equally we face challenges against a confusing and inconsistent regulatory landscape which isn’t very well suited to ultra-low volume breeders such as me.
I urge you to support the recommendations contained in The Kennel Club’s most recent report, ‘The Reality of Responsible Dog Breeding’, including:
• Replace the current one-size-fits-all system with a tiered regulatory approach so that high welfare, low volume breeders can continue to be encouraged to meet demand for puppies, and minimum standards for commercial breeders can be better enforced.
• Support mentoring programs pairing experienced breeders with first time breeders.
• Mandate puppy contracts to uphold welfare standards.
• Launch an education/behavioural change campaign to support ethical buying.
The breeding community needs urgent policy support to ensure responsible practices can thrive and that dog welfare is prioritised across the UK. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further or provide any insights from my experience.
Yours sincerely,
Impact on supply
Following the introduction of the regulations in England in 2018, the number of licences issued increased by 76%. Low volume breeders have been disproportionately targeted by the licencing requirements however, with 40% of the licences issued to one to two litter breeders between April 2019 and April 2020. Given that the intention behind the new regulations was to ensure that high volume breeders are operating responsibly and safely, it is disappointing to see low-volume breeders – who often do not have the resources or finances to meet the extensive requirements – overrepresented in the figures.
Each year, The Kennel Club registers approximately one third of puppies bred in the UK – around 250,000 puppies per year. Following the introduction of the licensing regulations in England, 18,000 fewer puppies were registered with The Kennel Club, meaning that the domestic dog market saw a total shortfall of approximately 75,000 puppies. We have heard from many low-volume breeders who plan to either reduce the number of litters they breed per year or stop breeding altogether as a direct result of the burdensome licensing requirements they must now meet.
Given that 87% of breeders registered with The Kennel Club breed one to two litters per year, a significant reduction in their breeding activity prompts a number of concerns regarding the dog breeding sector and the market supply. Prospective puppy buyers will now have less opportunity to buy from reputable, responsible breeders who have raised their puppies in a loving home environment, as the gap in the market is filled by unethical, low welfare puppy importers and puppy farmers.
Complex regulations
Determining whether a breeder who breeds fewer than three litters per year meets the criteria set out in a business test is a complex process which can be interpreted in a different way depending on the local authority. Whether low volume breeders will require a licence is a postcode lottery, with some local authorities telling breeders that they will require a licence if they advertise even one puppy for sale. The reliability of this enforcement method is questionable, given that 65% of breeders do not rely on advertising pups for sale due to having waiting lists and over 80% of those advertising using non-commercial websites.
For those breeding three or four litters in a 12 month period, the licensing system is too complex, bureaucratic, and expensive. It places the same burden on those who breed three litters within a year as high-volume breeders.
The Kennel Club's proposals
We have consistently called upon policymakers to remove the business test element of the regulations. Not only would this remove the ambiguity as to whether a one or two litter breeder is a ‘business’, it will also mean that local authorities are better able to focus their limited resources to ensure that high volume breeders – many of whom are still operating under the radar – are breeding responsibly and are fully licensed.
What is The Kennel Club calling for?
- Government must simplify the dog breeding regulations by removing the business test in order to encourage low volume, high welfare breeders to breed litters and to increase domestic supply
Get in touch with your local MP
Email your local MP - find yours over on the UK parliament website.
If emailing in please include your name and postal address at the end of your email.
Here is a template letter you can use:
Dear [local MP]
I wanted to write to you in my capacity as a dog lover and occasional breeder / home breeder who breeds with health and welfare at the forefront, due to my love of dogs and passion for my breed. Puppies I breed are reared in a loving family home environment and selected for their new homes with the utmost care.
I have serious concerns surrounding some of the recommendations on dog breeding contained within the recently published report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee on pet welfare and abuse, in particular recommendation 29: The litter licensing threshold for dog breeding should be reduced from three to two per 12-month period.
Reducing the litter licensing threshold is of huge concern to home breeders such as me who breed in low volumes but to a high standard of welfare. When the Licensing of Activities Involving Animals Act 2018 Regulations were introduced and reduced the litter licensing threshold from 5 litters to 3 litters, many lower volume breeders reduced further the number of litters they bred because they were unable to deal with the volume of paperwork and cost associated with licensing.
Reducing the licensing threshold to two litters would, in my view, have a detrimental impact on the supply of responsibly bred puppies. Whilst illegal breeders will continue their operations under the radar, those who may have bred an additional litter within a year – including me – will choose not to, which in turn will fuel the trade of low welfare breeders since we know the demand for puppies will not decline. Breeding is a unique sector; with most breeders registering puppies with The Kennel Club breeding just one or two litters per year.
I share concerns regarding unscrupulous breeders who produce large volumes of puppies with no concern for welfare, and believe that urgent action needs to be taken, but a belief that bringing even lower volume breeders into the licensing regime completely fails to adequately address the problem of high volume, low welfare breeders, and demonises and disincentives' responsible breeders. The highlighted recommendation to reduce the litter licensing threshold, if taken forward, would likely reduce domestic, low volume, high welfare puppy breeding, while simultaneously enforcing stricter measures around puppy imports, potentially leading to a dangerous bottleneck, where demand is filled en masse by irresponsible and profit-driven breeders operating under the radar.
I would urge you to write to the responsible Minister at Defra to ensure that they do not take on board this poorly thought-out recommendation of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.
Yours sincerely,
[NAME]
Scotland
The Scottish Government has introduced new breeding regulations which stipulate that dog breeders will require a licence if they breed three or more litters per year.
We are pleased that the Scottish breeding regulations do not contain the ‘business test’, which has resulted in considerable difficulties for low volume breeders in England. The ‘business test’ would have left many one and two litter breeders unsure as to whether they need to be licensed or not, resulting in high welfare breeders stopping breeding all together. Given the high demand for puppies, any domestic decrease in supply will inevitably met by puppy importers and puppy farmers, raising grave concerns for animal welfare.
Wales
The updated breeding regulations introduced in Wales in 2015 set a clear licensing threshold and sought to raise animal welfare standards to a realistic level. We welcomed this legislation as it was straightforward for both breeders and local authorities to understand; however, we remain concerned about how these rules are being enforced.