AC 77
Minutes of the Advisory Council on the Welfare Issues of Dog Breeding
Minutes of Meeting Number 11 held at the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket on
31 July 2012
Present:
Sheila Crispin
Chairman
Lesley Bloomfield
Chris Laurence
Cathryn Mellersh
Mike Radford
Clare Rusbridge
Also attending:
Heather Peck
Maisie
(Secretary)
(Chairman’s dog)
Agenda Item 1
1. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the Animal Health
Trust for their kind hospitality.
2. Apologies had been received from Lisa Collins, Lisa McCaulder, Rachel Casey,
and David Sargan.
Agenda Item 2 - declarations of interest
3. The Chairman announced that she had recently been appointed to the Ethical
Committee for Premier Asset Management.
ACTION SECRETARY TO
AMEND AC 3.
Agenda item 3 - minutes of the previous meeting
4. The minutes of the meeting held on 15 May were formally approved and signed.
Agenda item 4 - matters arising from the minutes
5. Paper AC 76 referred. Further updates on progress were provided as follows:
a. Regarding minute 4d, DS had reported that a meeting had been arranged
between Dogs Trust, DS and the Chairman for 29 August. Members were
invited to let them have any comments before the meeting.
ACTION ALL
It was also agreed that a laymen’s introduction should be added to the
research proposal explaining how it addressed issues raised in the
Bateson Report.
b. Minute 4g – a revised version of the Puppy Health Check form was
circulated at meeting by CL. It was noted that the BSAVA, BVA and the
RCVS were enthusiastic about the approach and the VDS (Veterinary
Defence Society) had also accepted it. Some detailed drafting comments
were made as follows:
i. Request puppies name if available but raise the microchip number
to the top of the form.
ii. Add registration number if available.
iii. Amend lung options to “clear” or “adventitious sounds”.
iv. Delete “sounds” from abdomen section.
ACTION CL
c. Regarding next steps, it was agreed that the form should be piloted across
a sample of breeders and their veterinary surgeons. The form would be
produced in self copying pad form with 3 copies of each; ie one for the
veterinary practice, one for the breeder and one for the breeder to hand to
the new owner. During the pilot feedback would be sought from breeders
and veterinary practices. It was agreed that the assistance of Ian Seath,
Chairman of the Dachshund Breed Council, would be sought and LB also
offered assistance through the English Springer Spaniel Clubs.
ACTION CL, LB AND CM.
d. Minute 4i, it was agreed that the Secretary should recirculate the draft
confidentiality agreement.
ACTION SECRETARY
e. The Council also noted its great debt of gratitude to Henny van den Berg
for her enormous contribution to the work of the Council through the
redesign of the website and the management of it and wished to record
formally their unanimous thanks and appreciation.
ACTION SECRETARY
f. Minute 7c – It was noted that this action had been overtaken by the
submission of the Microchip Alliance response to which the Council was
party.
g. Minute 7e - It was noted that RC had undertaken to circulate her paper
very shortly after the meeting.
Agenda Item 5 – Chairman’s report
6. AC 75 was noted. The Chairman also reported that she would be attending the
model breeding guidelines meeting at Dogs Trust on August 31st. The aim of the
meeting is to come up with model conditions for the inspection of Breeding
Kennels and it might also provide an opportunity to suggest some regulatory
improvements to the Act as well. Members were invited to provide briefing before
the meeting.
ACTION ALL
7. It was noted that CL would also be available to attend future meetings if required.
Agenda Item 6 – Income and Expenditure Report
8. The Council noted paper AC 74. Further to questions asked, it was noted that the
contribution from the RSPCA had not yet been received at the time of writing, but
it was expected that it would figure in the bank statements for July when available
from WFCA.
9. The Council considered a request from Hearing Dogs for Deaf People to
advertise on a wall planner for 2013 but, while applauding the aims of the charity,
did not consider that it would be an appropriate use of the Council’s funding given
that it was almost all donated by charities.
ACTION SECRETARY
10. It was agreed that the Council should make a further approach to the Animal
Defence Trust
ACTION SECRETARY AND CHAIRMAN
Agenda Item 7 – next steps with the Council Standard for Breeding Dogs
11. It was unanimously agreed (supported by a written comment from DS) that the
Council Standard for Breeding Dogs (the Standard) should be launched as soon
as possible via its formal submission to governments. The covering letter would
reference the relevant recommendations in the Bateson Report. Following
submission the Standard would be placed on the Council website to make it
available publically.
ACTION SECRETARY to draft letter to government ministers, copied to chairs of
APGAW and equivalents.
12. The challenge of how the Standard should be implemented once the advice has
been made public was also discussed. Ideally the Council hoped that the Kennel
Club would upgrade their scheme so that integration could be achieved. Failing
this, the other option would be for another scheme or schemes to be established.
13. It was agreed that the Standard should also be sent to other relevant bodies such
as LANTRA and UKAS, pointing out that this was a standard for dog breeding
that could be inspected and audited.
ACTION SECRETARY
14. Once the Standard is on the website, members advised that it should be
accompanied by a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs). For example: Why
should I comply with this Standard for Breeding Dogs? Why should I buy from a
compliant breeder? What advantage is there to me of using this standard? What
sort of dogs should it cover? A summary cover sheet which explains why the
Council has prepared the Standard would also be required.
ACTION SECRETARY
15. The possibility of talking to dog insurers about the benefits for them of a welfareeffective Standard for Breeding Dogs enforced through a UKAS accredited
scheme was discussed and DS asked to provide contacts if possible.
ACTION DS
16. The benefits of such a scheme for enforcement authorities were also noted, on
the basis that a breeder found, via UKAS accredited inspection, to comply with
the Standard potentially need not be inspected further.
17. Further, the Council agreed that when public, the Standard should be sent to all
dog registration organisations in the UK and, via Expert panel members, to the
USA and Australia.
18. In summing up, the Chairman stated that the agreed route for action was
therefore:
a. Formal recommendation to governments
b. Publish the Standard and send out to other interested parties
c. Establish business case for the benefits of a welfare acceptable standard
that could be inspected and audited and take it to insurance companies
d. Thank the Kennel Club for their thorough gap analysis and, in view of what
appear to be the significant gaps between their Assured Breeder Scheme
and the Advisory Council’s Standard for Breeding Dogs, discuss with them
what action they propose to take in response.
Agenda Item 8 – Review of Regulation
19. The discussion was introduced by MR and Council was very grateful to Mike for
his work to date. He pointed out that the issues were complex and there were no
easy answers. Regulation involved far reaching policy issues which it was
important for the Council to consider carefully in order to reach a consensus,
since eventual recommendations needed to be robust. Also it was important to
note that single issues could not be dealt with in isolation. On the contrary the
whole area of the regulation of the advertising, supply and sale of dogs required
an holistic approach and careful thought to avoid unforeseen consequences.
20. The old regulatory model was to set up a regulatory system and expect Local
Authorities (LAs) to enforce it. The Council recognised that the LAs did not now
have the resources to do that effectively; and while the Animal Welfare Act
created discretionary duties with regard to enforcement it did not require them to
act.
21. MR noted that in developing its recommendations the Council needed to take a
position on the APGAW recommendations. Fundamentally, all the problems
came back to breeding and supply. We needed to devise a solution which was
not overly intrusive, bearing in mind the currently favoured style of regulation and
that companion animals such as dogs were usually kept in people's homes.
22. Following lengthy discussion it was agreed that MR would draft proposals for
further discussion and agreement at the September meeting. The aim was to
have formal recommendations ready for submission to Ministers by end April
2013.
ACTION MR
Agenda Item 9 – identification of next set of Priorities
23. This item was discussed and written comments provided by members also taken
into account. The priorities were agreed as:
a. Consolidate and complete existing projects. This would include launching
the Standard for Breeding Dogs, setting up an app from the how-tochoose-a-dog webtool, the data collection research project, and follow up
on advice on the first 8 priorities.
b. Advice on regulation
c. Other clinical problems with welfare implications
i. Glaucoma - Sheila
ii. Hypothyroidism - ?
iii. breed specific cancers - ?
iv. auto immune disorders - ?
24. It was noted that advice in relation to c needed to include how to resolve the
problems and the Council should consider the possibility of research proposals
alongside the priorities.
ACTION ALL MEMBERS TO CONSIDER APPROPRIATE DRAFTEES.
25. With respect to action on the first 8 priorities, it was agreed that the advice on
specific problems should be sent to breed health coordinators with the offer of
assistance from the Council in tackling these issues. ACTION (in the first
instance) ATTENDEES AT BREED HEALTH SEMINAR see below.
26. With regard to puppy faming, it was noted that many of the projects already
underway or listed above (eg the Standard, and advice on regulation) contributed
to addressing this topic. However, the possibility of considering population
management as an issue was also discussed. It was noted that charities had
been subsidising neutering at considerable cost but there was still a big attitude
issue to address and neutering was not the only answer. It was proposed that the
Council might set up a multicentric group including all welfare charities and
consider more effective options given that neutering has not worked.
TO BE DISCUSSED FURTHER IN SEPTEMBER
Agenda Item 10 - Any Other Business
27. The Council noted that the Chairman would be attending EfraCom on 17 October
with Professor Bateson.
28. The Council also noted the feedback from DS on the choosing-a-puppy-website
and asked what progress had been made in getting us to the top of Google
search pages.
ACTION DS
29. It was agreed that BVA and BSAVA would be asked to suggest to members they
put it on their websites.
ACTION SECRETARY.
As mentioned above, the possibility of converting it into an app was discussed
and CR undertook to check costs.
ACTION CR
30. The suggestion that the photograph from the front of the website be used as the
Council logo was discussed. It was agreed that the Council should retain its
existing logo for most communications, but that the image would be useful for
posters, for example.
31. CL asked how feasible it would be to establish a micro site to allow a lay person
to enter names of dogs in 5 generations and the site calculate the coefficient of
inbreeding (COI).
ACTION CL TO OBTAIN AN ESTIMATE FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION
32. The issue of animal welfare being part of the core curriculum in schools was
discussed and the work of other groups noted. It was agreed the Council should
check the teaching pack provided by the PFMA education group to see if it could
be given Council endorsement.
33. The invitation from the Kennel Club to attend the Breeding Symposium on 13
September was noted with appreciation. SMC and CM were speaking at the
Symposium and LB and CL confirmed that they will attend. All Advisory Council
members are invited. It was also agreed that members should be supplied with
name badges and business cards.
ACTION SECRETARY.
The meeting closed at 1530.
Date of next meeting:
25 September 2012 - location to be advised.