Vets welcome welfare group’s dog breeding report

The Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) has released an update report on dog breeding issues.

Working alongside the British Veterinary Association, Dogs Trust, Kennel Club and the RSPCA, the report looks at what has been done since the first APGAW report in late 2009 and the airing of Pedigree Dogs Exposed (2008) and Pedigree Dogs Exposed: Three Years on (2012).

BVA past president Harvey Locke drew attention to a number of points in the report’s action plan, such as the call to tighten up dog breeding legislation in England; for the dog breeding licence requirement to be reduced to three or more litters; and for animal welfare to be part of the curriculum in schools.

Mr Locke said: “Much work has already been undertaken to improve dog breeding but there is much more to be done and the momentum must not be lost.

“I am most grateful to Neil Parish MP, chairman of APGAW, for his commitment to producing this report. It is an excellent means of keeping the issue high on the agenda by encouraging wider dialogue and debate within Parliament and in the EU.”