Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Deferred
Bring stud dogs under Licensing of Activities Involving Animals regulations for welfare.
Conclusion
Stud dogs should be brought within Licensing of Activities Involving Animals regulations. The inclusion of stud dogs would help give traceability and ensure welfare measures apply to male dogs kept for breeding, who otherwise fall outside the scope of the regulations. (Paragraph 47) Abuse and Manipulation
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially accepts the need for consistency in enforcement but deflects from including stud dogs in LAIA regulations. It instead details existing requirements for suitably qualified local authority inspectors and Defra's work to share best practice and provide training for enforcement.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
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. Recommendation 3: The Government should produce clearer guidance for local authority enforcers regarding Section six of LAIA regulations, which prohibit the breeding of dogs where there are reasonable expectations that their genetics or health would lead to welfare problems. This guidance should include a list of breeds for which it is unlikely that a licence would be issued, and exceptional cases in which they might.
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