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The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has welcomed the latest draft regulations to improve dog breeding standards in Wales.
The second set of draft regulations take into account feedback from a first round of consultation, which ran from October 2010 to January 2011. The latest proposals will now be under consultation until 27 March 2012. |
BVA President, Carl Padgett, says:
| “The BVA has lobbied hard for the Welsh Government to press forward with legislation to tackle the issues of puppy farming and irresponsible breeding. |
| A huge amount of work has already been completed by experts in this field and bold policies proposed. We are delighted that this issue is now back at the top of the Welsh Government’s agenda. Too often veterinary surgeons see the devastating consequences of poor breeding practices and we hope effective measures can be brought in as quickly as possible.” |
Among the proposals are:
- a change to the thresholds so that a person with 3 breeding bitches on the premises, and who breeds 3 or more litters per annum on those premises in any 12 month period will need to be licensed as a dog breeder
- a restriction on selling so that anybody who has 3 breeding bitches and who advertises for sale 3 litters a year, whether or not they were born on the premises, or supplies them in any 12 month period will require to be licensed
- a minimum staff-to-dog ratio to one attendant for 30 dogs
- that stud dogs are now defined to ensure that appropriate record keeping and microchipping measures are taken
- a yearly licence is to be required for licensed premises.
The Environment Minister also announced that he is considering introducing legislation that would require all dogs in Wales to be microchipped. This will be the subject of a separate consultation later this year.
