Simon returning from the daily Siberian “ oldies ” walk on his 7,500 acres of farmland in Norfolk .
KC CHAIRMAN , CONTINUED FROM PAGE 112 means that The Kennel Club is recognized as an impartial and competent inspector by the government ’ s sole national accreditation body . This gives the puppy-buying public additional confidence that Assured Breeders are committed to meeting and maintaining high standards for caring for the health and welfare of their puppies and breeding bitches , and are the best point of contact for buying a healthy , happy puppy .
By contrast , the registration system is a record of births only . The Kennel Club is not a law-enforcement agency ; local authorities and the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( RSPCA ) are charged with the task of monitoring and taking action against unscrupulous breeders . However , should there be a conviction under the Animal Welfare Act against a breeder , then this is legitimate grounds for scrutiny under the Kennel Club ’ s disciplinary process and to disqualify that breeder from future registrations .
Breeders who breed five or more litters a year normally require a breeding license from their local authority , and in order to continue registering puppies with The Kennel Club , anyone seeking to register five or more litters in a single year is asked to provide a copy of their license . The Kennel Club is also entitled to ask for a license from those individuals who collectively register more than five litters a year from a single address .
The Kennel Club has a limit on the number of litters that may be registered from a single bitch . We will not normally register any more than four litters from any bitch , unless there is good and justifiable reason for breeding a further litter . Such applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis . The Kennel Club ’ s four-litter-limit is lower than the legal limit of six litters .
BB : It ’ s actually illegal in the UK for a bitch to produce more than six litters ? That ’ s amazing !
The Kennel Club is committed to doing everything it can to stamp out puppy farming .
SL : Yes , this is enshrined in the Breeding and Sale of Dogs ( Welfare Act ) of 1999 . Since 2012 , The KC normally will not register puppies from any more than four litters from one bitch , nor puppies from a bitch who has had more than two Caesarian sections [ in one year ].
BB : I need to ask : How exactly do you define the term “ puppy farm ”? Can The Kennel Club simply refuse to register puppies from them ? SL : How does anyone define a puppy farm ? Large kennels and breeders are pretty much a thing of the past in the UK , so puppy farms are usually considered to be large-scale breeders of puppies who have absolutely no interest in dogs per se , who breed in unhealthy and unacceptable conditions and do all this purely for commercial gain . If The KC has evidence of unacceptable breeding practices , it can and will refuse registration .
It is important to remember that puppy farmers tend to operate under the radar and choose not to register their litters with The Kennel Club . In fact , the vast majority of those who register with The Kennel Club breed in small numbers — often no more than one litter a year . Only 2 percent breed more than five litters per annum , and within that tiny minority are a number of volume breeders , such as Guide Dogs for the Blind , who are responsible and caring .
BB : What about show entries ? Have they held up or even increased ? Can you provide some figures for the past few years ? SL : We have 26 annual all-breed championship shows that vary in size from almost 23,000 dogs at Crufts to a little more than 2,000 at Belfast in Northern Ireland . Most of the general championship shows have around 8,000 to 9,000 dogs entered . There are 11 national and regional Group championship shows , plus more than 600 breed club championship shows
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