19/05/26
Earlier this month, Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) released the outcome of an independent expert panel’s review of dog breeding regulation in the nation. Unsurprisingly, the review recommends significant changes to the way dog breeding is currently regulated and monitored.
Naturewatch Foundation contributed evidence and recommendations to the review last year, and we’re pleased to see many of our concerns and proposals reflected in the final report. We particularly welcome the panel’s recommendation to introduce a cap on the number of adult dogs kept at licensed premises, which would be truly transformative for dog welfare.
Proposals to improve dog welfare
The review’s main recommendations include:
- Reducing the licensing threshold to breeding two or more litters within a 12-month period.
- A cap of 25 adult dogs at any one premises.
- Increasing the minimum breeding age for female dogs from 12 months to 18 months.
- Reducing the maximum number of litters in a female dog’s lifetime from six to four.
- Prohibiting further breeding from a female dog that has had one caesarean section.
- Requiring an independent vet to be present at inspections.
- Introducing a code of practice for dog breeding in Northern Ireland.
- A minimum staffing ratio of one full-time staff member for every ten dogs.
- Minimum qualification requirements for licence holders and staff.
- Specific welfare protections for male dogs used for breeding (also known as ‘stud’ dogs).
- Enhanced licensing rules and guidance relating to socialisation to ensure puppies are exposed to people, dogs, other animals, and the kinds of noises and activities they would experience in their eventual homes.
- Introducing new rules to ensure adult dogs are suitable for breeding and that the health and welfare of future puppies are considered as part of breeding decisions, including rules to prevent the breeding of dogs with extreme conformations.
- New rules to ensure retired breeding dogs are rehomed into a family environment.
- Rules to prevent the removal of puppies from their mother and the licensed premises before they are at least eight weeks old, other than for visits to a veterinarian.
- Rules requiring prospective purchasers to see a puppy with its mother at the place where it was bred
- Improved record-keeping requirements, including the need to register each new litter of puppies on a central register.
- Minimum qualification requirements for council licensing inspectors and improvements to inspection processes to ensure greater consistency.
- The establishment of a centralised team to support local councils with licensing, monitoring, and enforcement at dog breeding premises.
- Requiring all adult dogs to be individually identified and listed on dog breeding licences.
A unique opportunity for Northern Ireland to lead the way
Introducing these measures would transform Northern Ireland’s reputation as a hotbed for low-welfare and illegal dog breeding, and provide an opportunity for the nation to become a leader in dog welfare standards across the UK.
Earlier this year, DAERA confirmed it would take forward proposals to introduce a registration system for all sellers of puppies in Northern Ireland. This is a positive step forward and a measure we supported in our submissions to the consultation last year. However, as we and many others highlighted in our evidence, improving dog breeding regulation in the nation is essential, as the panel’s review clearly shows.
Now is the perfect time to press ahead with both the registration system and new dog breeding regulations.
Why DAERA must act now
As we revealed in our Licensed Breeding in the UK and Ireland report last year, Northern Ireland is home to the largest dog breeding businesses in the whole of the UK, with several licence-holders permitted to keep hundreds of adult dogs for breeding.
The review rightly acknowledges dogs are family members, and the majority of dogs who are bred go on to live in homes as companions. The review outlines a litany of evidence showing why intensive production of puppies is not conducive to dog welfare. Ensuring puppies have the best start in life, and that their parents are treated with dignity and respect, is the least we can do for dogs, who bring immeasurable joy to many of our lives.
We urge the Minister, Andrew Muir, who commissioned the review, to act on the panel’s recommendations without delay.
Read the expert panel’s Dog Breeding Review report here.
Visit our Dog Breeding Map to find out more about dog breeding near you.
