Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Deferred
Paragraph: 29
Introduce lower dog breeding litter threshold and publicly available licensed seller list.
Conclusion
The litter licensing threshold for dog breeding should be reduced from three to two per 12-month period. A list of all licensed sellers should be publicly available, which would allow for verification and provide assurance to buyers. Care should be taken to ensure that future legislative changes to the breeding framework do not discourage groups such as families from breeding from a much-loved pet, or hinder farmers and gamekeepers from being able to produce the next generations of working dogs.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially accepts, stating that health and welfare of commercially bred cats are already protected. It has commissioned a review and requested views on cat breeding regulation, and will consider further steps only after these reports are published.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
29
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The Government partially accepts the Committee’s recommendation. Whilst the Government acknowledges the Committee’s concern and their recommendation to reduce the litter threshold, doing so may result in unintended consequences. In particular, we would want to carefully consider whether the type of small-scale home-based breeders that the Committee would like to protect would leave the sector rather than join the licensing regime. A further reduction in the number of litters may also disadvantage breeders of toy or giant breeds for whom a litter is often a single puppy. We are considering the impacts and benefits of the dog breeding licensing scheme’s threshold and scope in our post-implementation review (PIR) of the LAIA Regulations, and have commissioned an AWC opinion on the welfare implications of specialised canine reproductive practices, which will be published shortly. The Government will consider the recommendations and available regulatory options to eradicate opportunities for puppy farming and other forms of low-welfare breeding, improve the health and welfare of all breeding dogs, and protect consumers, in line with the intended outcome of the Committee’s recommendation. As part of this work, the Government will take account of the needs of those who may wish to breed a single litter from a much-loved pet, and those who may breed regularly but do not sell the resultant puppies, such as breeders of working dogs, for example.
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