Dog Breeding Act: Part 2 Sale of Dogs

Dog Breeding Act
Part 2
Sale of Dogs

The current problem with unscrupulous or 'hobby' breeders is that they can produce litter after litter, without the scrutiny of authorities by simply evading the current licenses and advertising the sale of their dogs in almost any medium available.

Common routes to advertise the sale of dogs include classified advertisements in newspapers and magazine, online advertising, internet forums and chat rooms, cards in shop windows, social networking groups, car boots, friends, family, the local pub and any other meeting place or networking arena.

This part of the 'Act' would limit where unregistered dogs are sold or rehomed but would not make it completely impossible to sell dogs. Pit bulls continue to be bred, bought, sold, imported and exported in the UK. However their activities remain underground and limited to those within that circle. It is not impossible to obtain a pit bull, but you would have to go out and try and find it first. Whereas, for almost any other breed it is simply a matter of checking the local classified ads and biding your time until the breed you want appears.

The Sale of Dogs therefore would prohibit the advertised sale or rehoming or any dog (it could cover any animal if necessary) in any medium in the UK unless from a registered bitch and licensed breeder or a registered dog/animal rescue organisation.

The ban would cover all forms of media - print and online, radio and television (however unlikely), forums, chat rooms, social networking groups, markets, shops, car boots, and so on. The onus of proof is on the advertiser, but the onus to satisfy the proof is on the medium. Therefore the breeder (the advertiser) must prove to the medium (for example the newspaper) that they are licensed (by provision of their license number) and the medium has a onus to satisfy the proof (by checking against a public online register).

The online public register will act as a tool for breeders to advertise their dogs free of charge (they will be paying for it through their license fees), and also prospective owners to source legitimate dogs. The freedom to access the register is essential to allow media and other avenues to quickly, easily and without cost check the validity of a customers request to advertise.

Such restrictions would apply to any source of advertising or sale. So a car boot, where dogs are sold would be the responsibility of the car boot operator to ensure those dogs are licenses.

The penalties for the media breaking this ban should easily exceed the revenue generated from the advertisement. As most adverts in newspapers are small classifieds costing less than £50 the penalty to the media should be in the region of £100 or twice the advertised rate for the space of advert. The penalty could be a fixed issue from a police officer or any authorised agent, including local authorities or designated charitable bodies and must be paid within 28 days to avoid a summons to court, whereby the penalties would rise steeply.

In an instant the unregistered breeder, the unscrupulous breeder and the hobby breeder would cut off from the most popular sources of selling their unregistered litters.

As mentioned above, this would not stop the breeding, or the sale of puppies, but it would limit the avenues people can use. Leaving them few options but to join the underworld associating with pit bull breeders, hidden chat rooms and secret social networking groups.