The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018

Protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease

6.—(1) All dogs for sale must be in good health.

(2) Any dog with a condition which is likely to affect materially its quality of life must not be moved, transferred or offered for sale but may be moved to an isolation facility or veterinary care facility if required until it has recovered.

(3) The licence holder must ensure that no bitch—

(a) is mated if aged less than 12 months;

(b) gives birth to more than one litter of puppies in a 12-month period;

(c) gives birth to more than six litters of puppies in total;

(d) is mated if she has had two litters delivered by caesarean section.

(4) The licence holder must ensure that each puppy is microchipped and registered to the licence holder before it is sold.

(5) No dog may be kept for breeding if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of its genotype, phenotype or state of health that breeding from it could have a detrimental effect on its health or welfare or the health or welfare of its offspring.

(6) The health, safety and welfare of each dog must be checked at the start and end of every day and at least every four hours during the daytime.

(7) Breeding bitches must be adequately supervised during whelping and the licence holder must keep a record of—

(a) the date and time of birth of each puppy,

(b) each puppy’s sex, colour and weight,

(c) placentae passed,

(d) the number of puppies in the litter, and

(e) any other significant events.

(8) The licence holder must keep a record of each puppy sale including—

(a) the microchip number of the puppy,

(b) the date of the sale, and

(c) the age of the puppy on that date.

(9) The licence holder must keep a record of the following in relation to each breeding dog—

(a) its name,

(b) its sex,

(c) its microchip and database details,

(d) its date of birth,

(e) the postal address where it normally resides,

(f) its breed or type,

(g) its description,

(h) the date or dates of any matings, whether or not successful,

(i) details of its biological mother and biological father,

(j) details of any veterinary treatment it has received, and

(k) the date and cause of its death (where applicable).

(10) In addition to the matters mentioned in sub-paragraph (7), the licence holder must keep a record of the following in relation to each breeding bitch—

(a) the number of matings,

(b) its age at the time of each mating,

(c) the number of its litters,

(d) the date or dates on which it has given birth, and

(e) the number of caesarean sections it has had, if any.

(11) Unless the licence holder keeps the dog as a pet, the licence holder must make arrangements for any dog no longer required for breeding to be appropriately rehomed.

(12) A preventative healthcare plan agreed with the veterinarian with whom the licence holder has registered under paragraph 9(8) of Schedule 2 must be implemented.

(13) The licence holder must keep a record of any preventative or curative healthcare (or both) given to each dog.

(14) Where any other activity involving animals is undertaken on the premises on which the licensable activity of breeding dogs is carried on, it must be kept entirely separate from the area where that licensable activity is carried on.