11 Dec 2024
UK Legal Advisory Group on Extreme Conformation in Dogs believes major welfare benefits will come from the message, which veterinary professionals can also help to secure.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Owners who breed from moderately or severely brachycephalic dogs are likely to be committing animal welfare offences, according to a newly published legal analysis.
Members of the UK Legal Advisory Group on Extreme Conformation in Dogs (LAGECDogs) believe there are major welfare benefits from the message, which veterinary professionals can also help to secure.
While the analysis only applies directly to England, officials hope it will also provide clarity for law enforcement agencies to prosecute cases where necessary.
Group chairperson Helena Howe said: “We have laws in England to protect dogs from the suffering caused by being born with an extreme body shape and it is important that we use those laws effectively.”
The new analysis is based on tests using the Respiratory Function Grading Scheme (RFGS) developed by The Kennel Club and the University of Cambridge.
It argued that anyone keeping dogs for breeding purposes with a score of either grades 2 or 3, signifying either moderate or severe brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome respectively, would be committing an offence.
Members believe the picture would be similar in Scotland, though they are concerned that current regulations in both Wales and Northern Ireland lack specific protections for the welfare of future offspring.
But with more than half a million French bulldogs, 186,000 pugs and 132,000 English bulldogs already estimated to be living in the UK, plus around 120,000 puppies being produced a year to maintain population levels, vet and LAGECDogs member Dan O’Neill believes major benefits can be gained from acting in line with the guidance from now on.
He said: “Given current estimates that around half of all French bulldogs, pugs and English bulldogs suffer from noisy breathing at rest, this shows the huge welfare gains to both the breeding animals as well as to future generations of puppies from breeders and the general public insisting on the use of the RFGS before considering breeding from any of these three breeds.”
The group believes veterinary professionals can help to reinforce the message in practice by encouraging owners not to breed from dogs that breathe noisily when at rest or undertaking light exercise.
Members also encouraged vets who may be interested in becoming trained RFGS assessors to contact The Kennel Club directly.
But the group also insisted it wants to support breeders by enabling the widest possible understanding of its position and encouraging them to have their dogs RFGS-tested before they breed from them.
Its members believe the lack of guidance previously had left breeders “woefully exposed” to potential legal action.
Solicitor and group member Vanessa Barnes, who also advises the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Animal Welfare, said: “Many breeders are unaware of the extent of suffering that dogs can experience because of these practices or that their actions in this regard could breach animal welfare legislation.
“By utilising the Respiratory Function Grading Scheme, breeders can assess the respiratory function of any dog they wish to breed from and, in conjunction with our analysis, make the right breeding choices to both minimise canine suffering and stay within the law.”
The group has also pledged to undertake fresh analysis as new material becomes available, after it acknowledged there is currently “insufficient evidence” to properly assess the implications of breeding from dogs with a grade 1 RFGS score.
