Re: changes the the kennel club breed standards

[Justine&Rafe]

I’m aware health tests have been around, but in far too few cases have they been compulsory for KC registration… The change in the KC remit still falls far short of what I think is needed – dogs in top level shows with their various health stats taken into consideration – things like hip scores which can be quantified – when placing them within the ring.  Clearly it would still be open to exploitation, no system is perfect, and couldn’t be implemented until the microchipping/tattooing system is in place.

Your point re health checks is, I completely agree hugely important, and I honestly can’t see why they couldn’t just implement that immediately.

Like you said, even better than the above would be the removal of all puppy farms and the breeding of any dog without some sort of permission.  Ideally you’d have each house checked and owners vetted, but as that just wouldn’t work, perhaps some sort of aptitude test, just to open people’s eyes to the problems that breeding a litter without thinking about it can bring!!  But that isn’t going to happen any time soon, so at the mo just gonna have to settle for what they’re doing now.  It’s a move in the right direction is all.