Border Collie Rescue - On Line - Breeding and Sale of Dogs
The Breeding and Sale of Dogs
Looking at the breeding, sale, gifting or distribution
and transportation
of dogs in current circumstances
Breeding and sale of dogs needs to be more tightly regulated and all breeders need to be licensed.
To get a license they need to demonstrate a minimal understanding of genetics and breeding methods and suitable facilities for the care of the breeding sires and dams and pups.
AAnyone not planning to breed from their dog should be obliged to get their dog neutered or spayed.
Only licensed breeders should be allowed to sell or give away pups they have bred and should do so directly.
No third party sale of dogs/pups should be allowed.
Breeders should be obliged to care for and protect the dogs they breed from with a minimum breeding age and a maximum breeding age for each sex of dog and an obligation to care for dog that have finished their breeding abilities for the rest of their natural life.
Dog ownership should be licensed.
People wanting to own a dog should have to demonstrate they know enough about dog ownership and are financially able to provide for a dog before they are granted a license.
Dogs should be individually licensed with a license for a second dog being higher than the first, the third higher than the second - etc.
The cost of each license should be reduced once a dog was neutered or spayed.
A central database of registered, licensed dogs should be set up and full access made available to authorities, vets and licensed rescue organisations. Limited access should be available to any member of the public.
Substantial fines should be given to people who do not have a license or have not had their dogs neutered or spayed within a reasonable time of acquiring the dog. Like parking tickets, these should be 'on the spot' fines.
Rescue organisations need to be regulated.
They should also be registered, charitable, licensed and legally obliged to maintain minimal accommodation and care standards and re-home to a regulated procedure, ensuring certain checks are made.
Rescue organisations should be able to hold dogs without having to pay for a license
Advertising dogs for sale or free or passing them on to third parties, other than licensed rescue organisations, should then be made illegal.
Breeding
Anyone running a business of breeding dogs or who is
breeding 3 or more litters of
puppies a year and selling one or more puppies now needs
to be licenced.
Someone may also need to be licenced if they are breeding one or two litters a year and appear to be "breeding dogs and advertising a business of selling dogs".
A licence would also be required if “High volumes of animals sold or advertised for sale could indicate a business; and low volumes of animals sold or advertised could indicate a business where high sales prices or large profit margins are involved”.
Breeding dogs and selling puppies is regulated by The Breeding and sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999 and subsequent supportive legislation.
The 1999 act seeks to amend and extend the regulations of the 1973 act.
Since then new regulations have been passed to further tighten up provisions for the breeding and sale of dogs.
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Someone may also need to be licenced if they are breeding one or two litters a year and appear to be "breeding dogs and advertising a business of selling dogs".
A licence would also be required if “High volumes of animals sold or advertised for sale could indicate a business; and low volumes of animals sold or advertised could indicate a business where high sales prices or large profit margins are involved”.
Breeding dogs and selling puppies is regulated by The Breeding and sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999 and subsequent supportive legislation.
The 1999 act seeks to amend and extend the regulations of the 1973 act.
Since then new regulations have been passed to further tighten up provisions for the breeding and sale of dogs.
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Gifting
You can give your dog away or even sell it without having to comply with any law other than the 2006 Animal Welfare Act.
Free to good home
There is a lot of confusion and fear surrounding the advertising of dogs
as 'free to good home' in paid or 'free ad' newspapers or paid
or 'free ad' websites on the internet or even by posters in a
local community.
The first thing to bear in mind when you see these adverts that most people who have posted them have already tried rescue organisations and had no luck either due to the fact that there are no places available or due to the fact that the dog has issues that will make it impossible for the rescue to re-home it.
We are always full to capacity - one out - one in.
The laws of physics apply. You cannot get more into a container than it is capable of holding.
Every day we have to tell some people we have no space to take their dogs in. These are people who are asking us to take in their dogs.
We are often contacted by people who have seen one of these adverts, are worried for the sake of the dog and are asking us to intervene.
But the people who are posting these adverts are not asking us (or anyone else) to take their dog from them.
How could we possibly justify taking in a dog from someone who is not asking us to do so when we have to say no to a lot of people who are asking us.
Most rescue organisations are in exactly the same position, they are always full and working to capacity.
If a rescue has spaces available and can fit a dog in immediately it is likely to because people are not asking them to take their dogs in because they have a bad reputation or because they are punting dogs out as quickly as possible, in which case they should have a bad reputation.
Another very, very, important thing to consider is that some people actually prefer to advertise and re-home their dog themselves.
They want to KNOW that it is being done right.
They want to meet and see the person or people who are going to give their dog a new home and make their own judgment on the person rather than rely on someone else doing it for them.
They do not want their dog having to go through the stress of going into a kennel and being handled by strangers and then being moved on again. They do not want their dog risking being returned to a rescue by someone who has taken it on because they like the picture of it but having got it home have then decided it is not the right dog for them after all.
They do not entirely trust rescue organisations to do the job right - and in many cases they are quite correct not to trust them.
They want their dog to live with them in an environment it is used to and comfortable in and move straight to a new home just once.
Most people who advertise their dogs as 'free to good home' will take a lot of trouble to ensure the person they finally let the dog go to has been well vetted by them and has had to persuade them that they are right for the dog.
The dogs most at risk in these advertising situations are the dogs being sold.
Seller are frequently motivated by money.
Not many rescue organisations work in the way we do.
A high proportion of rescue organisations are not even charities or charitable.
A lot of these, including some charities, do not home visit, do not assess dogs properly, do not match dogs to homes and do not properly vet people on their capability to look after a dog or their financial ability to support one.
They post a picture of a dog on the internet - someone sees it and offers to take it. The rescue may do a home visit but they probably wont fully check the person, home and environment as being suitable for that particular dog.
Because they have little personal involvement with the dog and it has not been with them very long, they don't actually know it very well so they can't check if the dog will fit into the home.
They take a donation and off it goes. If it does not fit in and it comes back, they do it again.
We hear from people who need our behavioural advice that the dog they have adopted from another rescue has been rehomed several times. It is no wonder that some people prefer to post a dog on an advertising website and do it themselves - and it's perfectly legal.
It is actually safer to use one of these websites that to use a forum or social media to try and re-home a dog.
Bunchers and dog dealers frequent forums and monitor social media websites for free dogs. people that use these outlets to advertise their dogs are more trusting of people who contact them through the sites and unscrupulous people who are looking for a free dog to profit from know this.
It is easier to con people if they are contacted via that sort of platform.
Everyone thinks that you have to be careful if you post an advert 'free to good home' on a free ad site so they tend to be more cautious.
Advertising a dog as 'free to good home' is not as bad as it is made out to be and certainly not as risky as some people claim.
We do not actually approve of it but we can understand why it is happening.
The first thing to bear in mind when you see these adverts that most people who have posted them have already tried rescue organisations and had no luck either due to the fact that there are no places available or due to the fact that the dog has issues that will make it impossible for the rescue to re-home it.
We are always full to capacity - one out - one in.
The laws of physics apply. You cannot get more into a container than it is capable of holding.
Every day we have to tell some people we have no space to take their dogs in. These are people who are asking us to take in their dogs.
We are often contacted by people who have seen one of these adverts, are worried for the sake of the dog and are asking us to intervene.
But the people who are posting these adverts are not asking us (or anyone else) to take their dog from them.
How could we possibly justify taking in a dog from someone who is not asking us to do so when we have to say no to a lot of people who are asking us.
Most rescue organisations are in exactly the same position, they are always full and working to capacity.
If a rescue has spaces available and can fit a dog in immediately it is likely to because people are not asking them to take their dogs in because they have a bad reputation or because they are punting dogs out as quickly as possible, in which case they should have a bad reputation.
Another very, very, important thing to consider is that some people actually prefer to advertise and re-home their dog themselves.
They want to KNOW that it is being done right.
They want to meet and see the person or people who are going to give their dog a new home and make their own judgment on the person rather than rely on someone else doing it for them.
They do not want their dog having to go through the stress of going into a kennel and being handled by strangers and then being moved on again. They do not want their dog risking being returned to a rescue by someone who has taken it on because they like the picture of it but having got it home have then decided it is not the right dog for them after all.
They do not entirely trust rescue organisations to do the job right - and in many cases they are quite correct not to trust them.
They want their dog to live with them in an environment it is used to and comfortable in and move straight to a new home just once.
Most people who advertise their dogs as 'free to good home' will take a lot of trouble to ensure the person they finally let the dog go to has been well vetted by them and has had to persuade them that they are right for the dog.
The dogs most at risk in these advertising situations are the dogs being sold.
Seller are frequently motivated by money.
Not many rescue organisations work in the way we do.
A high proportion of rescue organisations are not even charities or charitable.
A lot of these, including some charities, do not home visit, do not assess dogs properly, do not match dogs to homes and do not properly vet people on their capability to look after a dog or their financial ability to support one.
They post a picture of a dog on the internet - someone sees it and offers to take it. The rescue may do a home visit but they probably wont fully check the person, home and environment as being suitable for that particular dog.
Because they have little personal involvement with the dog and it has not been with them very long, they don't actually know it very well so they can't check if the dog will fit into the home.
They take a donation and off it goes. If it does not fit in and it comes back, they do it again.
We hear from people who need our behavioural advice that the dog they have adopted from another rescue has been rehomed several times. It is no wonder that some people prefer to post a dog on an advertising website and do it themselves - and it's perfectly legal.
It is actually safer to use one of these websites that to use a forum or social media to try and re-home a dog.
Bunchers and dog dealers frequent forums and monitor social media websites for free dogs. people that use these outlets to advertise their dogs are more trusting of people who contact them through the sites and unscrupulous people who are looking for a free dog to profit from know this.
It is easier to con people if they are contacted via that sort of platform.
Everyone thinks that you have to be careful if you post an advert 'free to good home' on a free ad site so they tend to be more cautious.
Advertising a dog as 'free to good home' is not as bad as it is made out to be and certainly not as risky as some people claim.
We do not actually approve of it but we can understand why it is happening.
A Draconic Option?
We have always thought a few things need to be done - in law - to rectify this sort of issue.Breeding and sale of dogs needs to be more tightly regulated and all breeders need to be licensed.
To get a license they need to demonstrate a minimal understanding of genetics and breeding methods and suitable facilities for the care of the breeding sires and dams and pups.
AAnyone not planning to breed from their dog should be obliged to get their dog neutered or spayed.
Only licensed breeders should be allowed to sell or give away pups they have bred and should do so directly.
No third party sale of dogs/pups should be allowed.
Breeders should be obliged to care for and protect the dogs they breed from with a minimum breeding age and a maximum breeding age for each sex of dog and an obligation to care for dog that have finished their breeding abilities for the rest of their natural life.
Dog ownership should be licensed.
People wanting to own a dog should have to demonstrate they know enough about dog ownership and are financially able to provide for a dog before they are granted a license.
Dogs should be individually licensed with a license for a second dog being higher than the first, the third higher than the second - etc.
The cost of each license should be reduced once a dog was neutered or spayed.
A central database of registered, licensed dogs should be set up and full access made available to authorities, vets and licensed rescue organisations. Limited access should be available to any member of the public.
Substantial fines should be given to people who do not have a license or have not had their dogs neutered or spayed within a reasonable time of acquiring the dog. Like parking tickets, these should be 'on the spot' fines.
Rescue organisations need to be regulated.
They should also be registered, charitable, licensed and legally obliged to maintain minimal accommodation and care standards and re-home to a regulated procedure, ensuring certain checks are made.
Rescue organisations should be able to hold dogs without having to pay for a license
Advertising dogs for sale or free or passing them on to third parties, other than licensed rescue organisations, should then be made illegal.
If you are interested in adopting a Border Collie from us,
please do not write to us or email us - we want to speak to you before we start the process.
Please phone us during office hours. Details here.
Calls to our office and mobile will only be answered during our office hours
please do not write to us or email us - we want to speak to you before we start the process.
Please phone us during office hours. Details here.
Calls to our office and mobile will only be answered during our office hours