Research shows scale of illegal and unlicensed dog breeding

A welfare group has warned that as many as four in five dogs and puppies could still be entering UK homes from unknown, unlicensed or even unlawful sources.

Naturewatch Foundation officials say their analysis highlights the need for both tougher regulation of dog-breeding operations and stricter enforcement of those rules.

The BVA has also called for an urgent government response, while Defra said the issue remained under consideration.

Explore breeders

The new findings follow the launch of the foundation’s Dog Breeding Map of the UK and Ireland – which is intended to help prospective purchasers explore breeders in their area – last summer.

Based on responses to freedom of information requests submitted to nearly 400 local authorities, the group said 2,897 licensed breeders were based across the UK and Ireland.

Around 23,000 female dogs are also kept for breeding by licence holders within the UK, while licensed breeders are estimated to produce between 138,000 and 184,000 puppies a year.

But the foundation said those figures could account for as few as 14.6% of the total number of animals that join the UK’s dog population annually, based on published analysis of population levels and average lifespans.

Public shock

With another 5.8% imported commercially, campaign manager Natalie Harney argued the public would be “shocked” by the potential scale of the problem.

She said: “Despite reforms in dog-breeding regulations over the past decade, loopholes and under-enforcement remain major issues. With rules varying across nations, it can be difficult for the public to know when a breeder should be licensed. These issues require urgent attention from regulators.”

The foundation’s analysis was published days after BVA survey data indicated a fifth of small animal vets believed they had seen illegally imported puppies in the previous year.

‘Swift action’ call

President Elizabeth Mullineaux said the findings collectively underlined “the urgent need for swift Government action”, amid its broader calls for progress in passing the anti-smuggling bill tabled by vet and MP Danny Chambers.

Although ministers insist they support the bill and will bring it back before MPs when time allows, Dr Mullineaux said: “The Government has an opportunity to protect animal welfare and dog owners from unscrupulous breeders.”

In response, Defra said it was considering both a post-implementation review of regulations on activities including dog breeding and the Animal Welfare Committee’s latest analysis of the consequences arising from specialised reproductive practices.

Cruel trade

Although officials would only commit to outlining details of next steps “in due course”, the department insisted it was committed to ending what it called “the cruel puppy farming trade”.

Although animal welfare is a devolved matter, the foundation argued a UK-wide approach would better address some of the issues linked to the puppy trade.

The group found little more than a third 34% of councils could confirm how many dogs the breeders they had licensed were allowed to keep.

It also revealed it was aware of a single site in Northern Ireland that had been permitted to keep 250 female dogs and 100 male dogs.