News Release
Bedford Business Centre
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Rosie Loft, Communications Manager
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www.petcare.org.uk
14 January 2010
Pet Care Trust welcomes Bateson report
The Pet Care Trust, the pet care education charity, welcomes the publication of the report by Professor Sir Patrick Bateson FRS on dog breeding and the wide range of actions he is proposing. We particularly welcome certain aspects of the report:
- We will wholeheartedly engage in the proposed public awareness and education campaign to change public behaviour when buying a dog. The Trust is ideally placed to channel communication to the public through pet specialists.
- Robust Accredited Breeder schemes: these are a must. Our own Puppyindex Accredited Breeder scheme is well established, with breeders appreciating the accountability they sign up to. Our responsible retailers participating in the scheme also appreciate being able to signpost potential puppy owners through to responsible breeders. Nowadays, 98% pet shops do not sell puppies, as it is time consuming and difficult to do well. Puppyindex is an excellent means of assisting potential puppy owners and giving them vital support in finding a suitable dog that they know they will be able to care for.
- We welcome improvements in inspections of licensed breeding premises. Local authorities issue only 1.3 breeding licences a year. Public confidence in licensed breeders can only be achieved with proper independent inspections.
‘UKAS accreditation will mean independent audit of the Accredited Breeder Scheme, which will be enormously reassuring to the British dog owning public,’ said Janet Nunn, Chief Executive of the Pet Care Trust. ‘We have every confidence that the Kennel Club has the will and the wherewithal to achieve this and we hold ourselves available to help and support them in whatever way we can.’
- Microchipping of puppies: this service is now widely available through pet specialists – 30% of groomers are trained to offer a microchipping service at around just £15.
/Ends
Press Enquiries:
Rosie Loft, Communications Manager
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Tel: 01234 273933
Meriel France, Education and Animal Welfare Manager
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Notes to Editors:
The full Trust response can be viewed by following these links.
· The Pet Care Trust works to promote responsible pet ownership through our education programme and has 1500 pet care companies in membership, mostly micro businesses such as pet shops, grooming salons, kennels and catteries, colleges, wholesalers, and manufacturers. For more information visit our website: www.petcare.org.uk
· The Puppyindex Accredited Breeder Scheme has been welcomed within the breeding community and found to be more robust than other similar schemes. Participating retailers display our Puppyindex manual in store, and use it to counsel prospective puppy owners on their choice of breed and then give them details of our responsible breeders who have all signed up to a Code of Conduct, requiring excellent management of the dogs’ health and welfare. See www.petcare.org.uk for more details.
· The Pet Care Trust State of the Sector survey report 2008 of 2,820 pet retail businesses achieved a good response rate of 8.1% (228 responses) and showed that 2% of pet shops responding sold puppies.
· The Pet Care Trust Animal Welfare Officer survey of December 2008 of licensing officers in 454 British authorities achieved a good response of 19% (89 responses) and showed that those responding issued an average of 1.3% breeding licences per year.
· The Pet Care Trust State of the Sector groomer survey report 2008 of 2,645 grooming businesses achieved a good response of 11.2% (296 responses) and showed that 30% of those responding offered a microchipping service.
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