BASC has responded to Defra’s consultation on its review of animal establishments licensing in England and has raised concerns about the proposals relating to the licensing of dog breeding.
The key points in BASC’s response were as follows:
- BASC supports the current dog breeding licence threshold of five or more litters per year in England.
- BASC does not support a proposed reduction in the threshold to three or more litters per year because this would unfairly penalise the owners of working dogs who very often keep a number of breeds for different purposes.
- Shooters, gamekeepers and farmers who often need to keep a variety of different breeds of dogs, may not breed a single litter for three or four years. When they do choose to breed, if a bitch does not have a regular oestrus cycle, there may be a need to produce more than two litters in a 12 month period. This is low level, non-commercial breeding, the main focus is developing and maintaining the ability of working dog lines and this should not be caught by the proposed changes to licensing.
- BASC does not agree with the proposal to require the use of ‘model conditions’ by local authorities as they are too prescriptive and there is poor consideration of the specific circumstances and requirements of working dogs.