The long awaited Bateson report is due out and early reports suggest breeders will be registered to address health issues. This is an advance story so details cannot be verified -- report is out January 14th. Original link:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6974649.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6974649.ece
From The Times
January 4, 2010
Dog breeders to be registered in attempt to reduce canine deformities
Certain breeds, including bulldogs, are cited as being of concern
Valerie Elliott, Consumer Editor
A shake-up in the way that dogs are bought and sold is to be proposed by an inquiry into the future of canine breeding in Britain.
Plans for a compulsory registration scheme for breeders — whether of pedigrees or crosses — has emerged in a report by Professor Sir Patrick Bateson, a leading zoologist, which aims to stamp out controversial breeding practices in which puppies are born with disease and deformities.
The Times has learnt that only breeders with a registered number and who are subject to checks on their animals and premises would be allowed to sell or advertise the sale of puppies.
The proposals, which are already in force in France, are an attempt to draw a line under the unscrupulous breeding of dogs for the competition ring, which was highlighted in the television documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed on BBC One 16 months ago.
In future it is envisaged that all puppies would also be sold with a veterinary certificate guaranteeing their health and stating the name of their parents as well as the registered number of the breeder. All dogs would be microchipped and breeders would be subject to random inspections.
Professor Bateson’s blueprint, commissioned by the Kennel Club and the Dogs’ Trust, is to be published this month. It is certain to provoke fury among some breeders, but he believes that change is now inevitable.
Inbreeding of dogs was one of his main concerns, Professor Bateson said. The Kennel Club has banned the mating of parent dogs with offspring and siblings. He believes that this should be extended to grandparent and half-sibling dogs.
The club already has an accredited breeder scheme, but it is voluntary. Of the 150,000 pedigree puppies registered with the club each year, only 10 per cent are from breeders signed up to the inspection and audit regime.
Professor Bateson said that in future he expected registration to be restricted to accredited breeders who follow tough health and welfare rules.
The club has already reviewed the standards for each breed, but Professor Bateson questioned the organisation’s role as “judge and jury”. He favours instead a new statutory body to oversee all breeding practices. “I think regulation is the only way to do it. The public need to insist they know the pedigree of a dog and that it has been properly looked after, and only go to accredited breeders,” he said.