Campaigners call on councils to improve transparency and record-keeping to safeguard dog welfare

A nationwide investigation by the animal welfare charity, Naturewatch Foundation, has uncovered concerning inconsistencies in dog breeding transparency and council record-keeping, raising concerns about the oversight of breeding across the UK and Ireland.

The investigation found that just 34% of councils across the UK and Ireland could confirm the exact number of dogs that breeders they’d licensed were permitted to keep. Many councils confirmed they did not record the number of male dogs, litters of puppies or ‘other’ dogs (such as retired dogs and pet dogs) in their area. 

Need for improved transparency and oversight

Naturewatch Foundation is urging all councils to:

• Record and specify on licences the total number of dogs (male, female, litters of puppies and nonbreeding dogs) kept by licensed breeders.
• Record and verify dogs’ microchips during inspections.
• Publish a licensing register for dog breeding and other animal activities with information for the public about how to report suspected illegal businesses, if they don’t already.

The above will help to ensure councils can monitor dog welfare effectively and help prevent dogs slipping through the cracks. A licensing register will also help the public to make informed decisions when looking for animal-related businesses.

Key findings

At the end of last year, Naturewatch Foundation submitted freedom of information requests to 391 councils across the UK and Ireland to update its Dog Breeding Map – a unique tool that helps prospective puppy buyers find out about dog breeding in their area. 

The findings reveal that there are 2,897 licensed breeders across the UK and Ireland, collectively keeping around 26,000 female adult dogs for breeding – of which just over 23,000 are kept in the UK. 

With around one million dogs and puppies joining UK households each year, Naturewatch Foundation estimates that only 15-20% come from licensed breeders. Around 6% of dogs and puppies are imported commercially, with the rest coming from unknown, unlicensed or potentially illegal sources.  

The charity also found that only 68% of councils publish a dog breeding licensing register on their websites. No councils in Northern Ireland publish a register, making it the least transparent nation. Just 62.5% of councils in Scotland publish a register, despite it being a statutory requirement. 

While Naturewatch Foundation’s investigation found that the majority of licensed breeders are permitted to keep 10 breeding adult dogs or fewer, some are operating on an industrial scale. In Ireland, four licences allow over 200 adult breeding dogs. Three of those are licensed by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, with one single premises licensed to keep 250 female dogs and 100 male dogs for breeding. 

Natalie Harney from Naturewatch Foundation said:

“We understand that councils have a lot of responsibilities and animal licensing is often a lower priority due to resourcing, but the illicit puppy trade has devastating financial, emotional and animal welfare consequences. Publishing dog breeding licensing registers, recording all dogs on licensed premises during inspections and making information available to the public about how to report suspected illegal breeding and selling are things every council can do to help protect dogs and the public from low-welfare and illegal pet traders.”