Vets urged to support Welsh council breeding licence plan

Vets in a Welsh county are being urged to join a national trader approval scheme to help improve the advice provided to its licensed dog breeders.

The plea was made after a Carmarthenshire County Council report warned of limited legislative knowledge among clinicians and potential conflicts of interest in practice.

The authority has also called for wider national reforms in a plan praised by the RSPCA as a potential model for change across the UK.

The charity was one of several agencies that contributed to the review, which was launched in late 2023 following a delay during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Traditional ‘hot spot’

RSPCA officials described the county as a traditional “hot spot” for dog breeding activity and said its analysis showed the council had brought more related prosecutions than any other Welsh authority.

But the review identified several challenges to its licensing work, including what it described as “conflicts of interest between private vets’ professional standards and high revenue from dog breeders”.

It said clinicians should be encouraged to join the Buy With Confidence scheme, a Trading Standards programme which lists approved businesses, to “raise standards and improve consistency” of guidance.

It warned of a “lack of understanding” of breeders’ legal requirements among clinicians and recommended improved public education plus a new scoring system for licensed breeders like that already used in food hygiene assessments.

Breeders’ organisation

But it also called for action from the Welsh Government, including a review of existing legislation, the development of a centralised microchip database and consideration of whether a national breeders’ organisation, like that for farmers, may be necessary.

RSPCA officials described the council’s plan as an “important step” towards higher standards across the UK as a whole and hope its recommendations will be taken up by whoever is in power in Cardiff after next May’s Senedd elections.

Billie-Jade Thomas, the RSPCA’s senior public affairs manager for Wales, said: “Working with local vets and the public to enhance knowledge about dog breeding licensing locally will help spread information, while a compulsory scoring system could give people added confidence when buying from a breeder.

“Dog breeding continues in Wales at a tremendous scale – so it’s vital our dog breeding laws are subject to regular review to ensure they are fit for purpose.”