Welfare Reports

The case for a more cohesive approach to pet welfare legislation – Blue Cross

This Report paints a picture of the current state of statutory enforcement of pet legislation in Britain. Local authorities are responsible for running a licensing system for dog breeding establishments. However, a lack of personnel and appropriate training, together with slashed budgets, has left many of them without the resources and confidence to deal with animal welfare legislation suitably and effectively. There are issues around consistency and clarity of duties and resource levels mean that the majority of local authorities only have the capacity to deal with licensed premises. The scale of the unlicensed and invisible trade makes this a serious welfare concern.

Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Comittee

The Government responds to each of the recommendations of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Report: Animal Welfare in England: domestic pets. New regulations will be in place in 2018 for animal activities licensing. Regarding the progeny of dogs the Government cites the Kennel Club’s Assured Breeders’ Scheme which requires the genetic screening of dogs to reduce the risk from inherited conditions. (In the view of DBRG these are minimal). ‘We will explore the possibility of further protecting the progeny of dogs within the proposals to modernise the dog breeding regulations. The Government rejects Efra’s proposals to ban the third party sale of puppies on the grounds that sales would be driven underground.