17/11/2023
I am both heartened and grateful for all your comments of care and support, thank you. Only now after months of stress, anguish and both mental and physical trauma am I able to talk about my Council Breeders License of 15 years! After last years inspection when I was 69 the Council Appointed Vet said , in her report ‘is very old and maybe not able to handle dogs’ I was just over two cataract operations then. In May this year when I am now as old as The Queen’s reign, I broke my foot, then a week before the inspection I caught Covid, getting the all clear only two days before that awful inspection day. Yes I had not been able to pressure wash pens and kennels following my cleansing and disinfection protocol to my usual standards or checked teeth and ears as I should have BUT everyone was well fed and socially interacted with. That counted for nothing! I reiterated that all my dogs were registered, microchipped, DNA tested , hip elbow , SLEM tested vaccinated and vet checked every year. That also counted for nothing, the Council vet said, I quote’ we are not interested in all that , only welfare’! Where are is the promotion of good breeding practices! After the inspection I had positive, supporting , Vet reports from no less than three vets! Two being Directors from my vet practice. That also counted for nothing , or the fact that I studied for months to gain a Level 3 Ofqual certificate in Canine Care, Behaviour and Welfare, which the higher level of a Breeders Licence required! My licence of 15 years was not renewed. I can renew it in 2 years though, when I will be nearer in age to Angela Rippon! Why would I put myself through this again, after all these Summer months of mental stress needing medical intervention, would I want to deal with all that again, when as what happened this week when I held a 9 week old puppy from an unlicensed breeder where the new owner received no paperwork, no date of birth, microchip, pedigree , food, care etc. and was very under nourished, every backbone was visible? Those are the breeders the Council should be hounding !
