The Animal Welfare (licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.

The Animal Welfare (licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.

The Animal Welfare Act (2006) is imminently about to undergo some quite radical changes that are going to impact on major areas of animal welfare, including the breeding and selling of puppies in the UK.  In this article, Holidays4Dogs outlines these changes and the significance of new laws that breeders of puppies need to be aware of.

As from the 1^st October 2018 the Animal Welfare Act will have several new amendments. The purpose is to close a number of loopholes that current legislation has allowed. The main objective is to help curb irresponsible breeders such as puppy farmers breeding puppies for profit.

Implications for puppy breeders.

Thus, from 1^st October anyone who breeds and sells for profit more than three litters of puppies, (previously five litters) within a twelve month period, must be licenced as a business with their local authority (Selling Animals as Pets Licence). This, then, strongly points to the fact that people must also register with HMRC.

If you breed three litters from pet dogs in the period of twelve months, you will deemed to be a business. However, if you are earning a profit, (fees from the activity of breeding puppies) you will still need a license irrespective of the number of litters produced.

Third party puppy sales. 

Breeders are not the only individuals who will be subject to these new regulations. Anyone who is in the business of moving puppies around, or acting as agents, will also need a licence. The purpose of this is to clamp down on traders and indeed, the government are considering the possibility of banning third party puppy sales altogether, meaning that only breeders will legally be able to sell puppies.

Other requirements set out in the amended legislation include;

• The puppy must be viewed with its biological mother, unless there is medical evidence to show why this is not possible.

• There must be an adequate programme of socialization of the puppies and this must be implemented and documented.

• No puppy under 8 weeks may be sold, or separated from its biological mother, except on grounds of health and welfare.

• Licence holders must take all reasonable steps to make sure puppies are free of genetic abnormalities and are of an acceptable temperament, physically fit and healthy.

• Dogs which have had corrective surgery in order to rectify exaggerated conformation, (such as breathing difficulties in bulldogs for example), must not be bred from.

• Bitches that have had two caesarean sections must not be bred from again.

• All dogs on the premises must be vaccinated against canine diseases.

Licences will be granted for a period of 1-3 years on a rolling basis and on a risk based system.  In practice this means that new licence holders will be assessed and provided with a star rating. This will indicate their current standards, as well as taking into account experience, facilities and feedback from puppy owners. Those individuals who are awarded a high rating will be inspected less frequently (up to 3 years). As a result, they will also attract reduced inspection fees.

Under the new laws, breeders will have to keep sales records. In addition, they must adhere to new rules on advertising dogs for sale.

Any dog that a breeder advertises must include the following information;

• The licence holders registered licence number.

• The name of the issuing authority.

• A recognisable photograph of the actual dog being advertised.

• The age of the dog being advertised.

It is hoped the new laws will go much further in protecting the health and welfare of puppies in England. It should, in theory, go a long way to eradicating unscrupulous puppy farmers and traders. This includes tackling the issue of people importing puppies from abroad.

This legislation should not affect responsible breeders adversely. Indeed, the point of the new law, is to tackle irresponsible breeders and dealers, who have benefited from loopholes in the current legislation.

Furthermore, the legislation attempts to tackle the issue of the suitability of dogs being bred from. For example, bull breeds which are being bred unable to breathe in alarming numbers and subsequently requiring corrective surgery. This is an issue which is becoming increasingly common in veterinary practices across the UK.

If you are planning to breed a litter of puppies and are unsure of your obligations, Holidays4Dogs strongly advises you contact your local authority. You can read detailed information on the legislation here.