The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 – DEFRA
This is the long awaited Regulations on the Licensing of Activities Involving Animals. The Regulations bring many more dog breeders under the local authorities licensing regime. Anyone who breeds three or more litters of puppies per year must be regularly inspected and obtain a licence from their local authority.
Schedule 6 provides Specific Conditions for the Breeding of Dogs. The Regulations stipulate that no puppy under the age of eight weeks may be sold and a puppy may only be sold if it is together with its biological mother. Puppies must be socialised and habituated to their future life as a pet. Female dogs used for breeding may only have one litter in a six month period and no more than 6 litters in total. Each puppy must be microchipped and registered to the breeder before it is sold. And crucially: ‘No dog may be kept for breeding if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of its genotype and phenotype or state of health that breeding from it could have a detrimental effect on its health or welfare of that of its offspring.’
