PROFESSOR SIR PATRICK BATESON'S INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO DOG BREEDING
14 January 2010
The Kennel Club and Dogs Trust have broadly welcomed Professor Sir Patrick Bateson’s ‘Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding’, which has recommended that steps be taken to tackle irresponsible breeders and to change the way the public think about buying dogs.
These organisations, who commissioned and funded the report, welcome the report’s focus on irresponsible breeders who farm puppies with little concern for their welfare and those who sell poorly socialised puppies on to owners to use as ‘status dogs’ or as fighting weapons.
It is agreed that the education of puppy buyers should be stepped up to help them avoid falling prey to a puppy farmer by directing them to responsible breeders, and that the compulsory microchipping of all dogs would help authorities to trace disreputable breeders.
It is agreed that future decisions about breeding should be made on a breed by breed and dog by dog basis, based upon evidence based scientific information, and that expert knowledge should be harnessed in order to support efforts in this direction.
The organisations particularly welcome the report’s recommendation that the Dangerous Dogs Act should be overhauled to tackle those who breed and rear dogs as weapons and that the legislation should apply to all dogs that have been shown to be dangerous rather than to specific breeds.
The Kennel Club and Dogs Trust now are to convene a meeting between all relevant parties in order to move forward with the recommendations from all three reports.
For further information on both organisations’ responses to the detail of the report visit: www.thekennelclub.org.uk and www.dogstrust.org.uk
For more information about the inquiry and to download the full report, please visit http://dogbreedinginquiry.com.
Kennel Club Press Office 020 7518 1008 / 07800 937070 press.office@thekennelclub.org.uk
Dogs Trust Press Office 020 7 837 0006 / 07768 616280 pressoffice@dogstrust.org.uk
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Dogs Trust response to the publication of Professor Sir Patrick Bateson’s Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding
Dogs Trust welcomes the publication of Professor Sir Patrick Bateson's independent report into the breeding of dogs and is pleased to see a number of key objectives. The charity is particularly gratified to see that microchipping is high on the priority list as it is our belief that this element alone will help to minimise the high volume of poorly bred puppies.
We also believe that the creation of an independent advisory board on dog breeding, to produce evidence-based breeding strategies, is vital.
A measured but timely approach is what we must work towards with the ultimate goal of happy healthy dogs going forward. The key requirements as we see them now are:
- To get all the relevant organisations around a table to move these recommendations forward as soon as possible
- To influence the legislators to help to get compulsory microchipping on the statute book
- To ask pet insurance companies to agree to give relevant data so that prevalence of health problems can be identified
- To get the veterinary profession to play a key role in collecting and collating genetic problems, kennel inspections as well as educating clients
- To continue to educate the pet buying public on what to look for in their selection of a dog
- For the dog fraternity to work closely with both human and animal geneticists to develop a clear strategy for healthy dogs
For more information please call the press office on: 020 7837 0006 or 07768 616 280