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Guidance on choosing your new dog
Leading
animal welfare organisations have been brought together by the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation to find practical responses to
the problems highlighted in the BBC programme Pedigree Dogs Exposed. The Dog Breeding Stakeholder Group includes
representatives from the Blue Cross, British Veterinary Association (BVA), BVA Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF), Companion
Animal Welfare Council (CAWC), Defra, Dogs Trust, Kennel Club, PDSA, RSPCA and the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
(UFAW). To help potential dog owners make the right choice for themselves and secure the ongoing good health
and welfare of their new pet, the Dog Breeding Stakeholder Group has developed guidance for people seeking to buy a dog or puppy. Please
note that not all of the advice is applicable to people seeking to re-home a dog from a rescue shelter and prospective dog
owners should seek further advice from the Blue Cross, Dogs Trust, PDSA or RSPCA. Welfare Principles:
The Dog Breeding Stakeholder Group believes:
1. Every dog should
be born with the best possible chance of living a healthy and happy life, well suited to its intended lifestyle.
2. All those who breed dogs should prioritise health, welfare and temperament over appearance when choosing
which animals to breed, in order to protect the welfare of both the parents and offspring.
3.
All those who benefit from dogs have a collective responsibility to work together to protect dog welfare.
Guidance on choosing your new dog
The Dog Breeding Stakeholder Group believes that as a prospective
dog owner you should:
1. Carry out your research first. Different dogs have different needs and temperaments
depending on, for example, their age, breed, health status, gender, and past experiences. A vet will also be able to give you information and advice on this; you can also get advice from the organisations
associated with this document.
2. Take into account the average lifespan of the dog you would like to own and the estimated costs
of lifetime care (both financially and in terms of your own time) before buying. Consider asking a pet insurance company how
much it will cost to insure the type of dog you are considering taking on.
3. Make sure that the dog you choose is suitable for you, your home and your lifestyle.
A vet will also be able to give you information and advice on the health problems that certain breeds are prone to; you can
also get advice from the organisations associated with this document.
4. Bear in
mind your “duty of care” obligations under the Animal Welfare Act, which states that pet owners MUST ensure that
each of the five welfare
needs for animals under their care are met. These include the need: For a suitable environment (place to live) For
a suitable diet To exhibit normal behaviour patterns To be
housed with, or apart from, other animals To be protected from
pain, injury, suffering and disease
5.
Avoid buying animals with exaggerated physical features that are likely to affect their quality of life, and don’t base
your decision on appearance alone. You should prioritise health, welfare and temperament over appearance when choosing a dog.
6. Always see your puppy with its real mother
in the environment where it was raised, and ask to see its brothers and sisters, if they are still there. Make sure that you
know who the father is and that you get an opportunity to contact its owner.
Ensure that the parent(s) and the puppies are happy and healthy and that
the environment is suitable to meet all the puppy’s welfare needs.
7. It is important to ensure that your puppy is well socialised
and has had appropriate good experiences. Ideally, your puppy should also have had good experiences with people, some other types of animals and in the places and situations it is likely to encounter
as an adult, including a normal home environment.
8.
Ask to see the puppy’s health records and ensure that these are available by the time you buy the puppy (this includes
any records of vaccination, worming and flea treatment as well as other veterinary treatment). Also check that the puppy’s
parents have taken appropriate health screening tests relevant to the breed and ask if the puppy or its parents have received
any veterinary attention relating to an inherited problem. These should be available for you, or your vet, to take a look
at.
9.
Make sure your puppy stays with its mother until a suitable age. This may vary, but normally would be until 8 weeks of age.
10. For pedigree puppies,
ensure that any recognised registration papers and the parents’ hereditary disease screening certificates, where
appropriate, are in order and available at the time you buy the puppy.
Success is the sum of small
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Animal Welfare Act 2006 applies to all UK owners.
Adhere to UK Breeding Regulations at all times.
Information may be obtained from your
local Council Offices.
Breeding of Dogs Act 1973. Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999.
Below are
listed some of the conditions required by LAW to which a Licence to keep a Dog Breeding establishment is granted.
Your licence will be suspended if these requirements
are not met and kept in place.
Firstly let’s establish the clear understanding of a "Breeding Establishment".
It means ANY dog breeding establishment (including a private dwelling) that produce 5 or more litters of puppies for SALE
per year.
Licences are issued on an annual
basis expiring on 31st December. For unlicensed premises, which some hobby breeders may think they come under, the rules are
the same. In other words should you have more than 5 breeding bitches in your home or on your premises anywhere,
you will require a licence.
Should you have less than 5 breeding bitches, you will still be liable to keep the same breeding
practices, or you may be acting illegally for the health and welfare of your dog/dogs.
Please remember these Acts are for the protection of the wonderful Canines
we love... they are not exhaustive...and should anyone knowingly buy a pup from a dealer or breeder flaunting these rules, you
are helping these unscrupulous people to undermine every humane right our beloved pets deserve from us their human guardians!
The law it is hoped is changing, soon it will be a requirement for a breeder to have their puppies micro chipped before
selling them on! This will enable the authorities to trace the breeder of your dog, but any good breeder would want their
puppies micro chipped before selling them, as this would mean anyone can trace their pups back to them!
And remember it is also a requirement to keep records of Sales: New Owner Details and a Register of how many
dogs and bitches are in the establishment, together with their ages, dates of heat period, mating and whelping.
The
only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on.
It is never of any use to oneself. Oscar Wilde
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