Welcome to the first newsletter for members of the Home Breeders Association database. So far we have very few members but these are early days and I certainly hope that we can launch the database to the public through advertisements on Facebook and announcements on Instagram and Twitter later in the year. There is no point in doing so at the moment: we have to be well enough populated for the site to be useful to members of the public. This means it will be helpful if everyone spreads the word and encourages colleagues who breed pets to join us - and challenges those who most uninformed comments on social media.
The Home Breeders Association joins a number of other databases for which I am responsible: the National Associations of Groomers, Dog Trainers and Behaviourists and Pedigree Dog Breeders. Perhaps I should also make it clear that that although I have been a breeder of pedigree dogs for many years my prime concern is the importance of pets in society. Pets are good for people - for many reasons so whether they are a deliberate crossbreed, a gerbil, rabbit or cat is immaterial and the purpose of the Home Breeders Association is to ensure that they can be sourced from reliable and responsible small scale breeders who will ensure that they are well reared and cared for.
We are an open organisation and so these newsletters are shared on social media.
Just to clarify how our organisation works: it is a not-for-profit community with two levels of membership. The first is Associate Membership which is free and allows a listing and notification of pets bred by the Associate Member. Full Membership costs just £15 a year but that regular sum helps to defray expenses of running the group and enables the member to:
- · place more information about the services offered
- · provide direct access to email and telephone advice from me and other members who have specialist skills and expertise
- · add personal species details to the database if they are not currently included (Under 'Dog' you could add 'Beagle' or 'Labradoodle' or under 'Cat' you could add 'Main Coon' if it was not already listed.
Incidentally, someone on a Facebook pages criticised our Code of Practice. Please make sure that you are familiar with it and our website for the criticism was not well founded: the person concerned said they had read it carefully but that clearly was not the case. This leads me to the importance of members coming forward and making suggestions as to the ways in which the site might be improved. It is not flashy with pictures and videos but it is not designed to be: it is for information and intended to make it as easy as possible for people to find the information they need.
There has been a great deal of discussion on the Home Breeders Association Facebook page regarding the collection and delivery of puppies and I would like to address that problem. I am an acknowledged by solicitors as an ‘expert witness’ for the pet industry, specialising in kennels and breeding (I edited five editions of the Dog Directory in the 1970s, wrote Running Your Own Boarding Kennels and All About Meeting, Whelping and Breeding and have been involved in all aspects of the sector for over 50 years including an 11 year stint as Deputy to the Director General of the Dogs Home Battersea and 20 years as a board member and sometime chairman of the Pet Care Trust – now the Pet Industry Federation) so I hope that my conclusions will be accepted by members as I believe they will be accepted by the Courts.
The Animal Welfare 2006 legally gives the health and welfare of animals the highest priority and I believe that if pets are collected or delivered by the breeder who can show that they have taken every care in ensuring that they observed all the requirements and details of social distancing, on the basis that to keep them when they are ready to go to their new homes compromises their welfare, the authorities would not have a case - in the very unlikely event that they wanted to bring one. Additionally, if you are a full member of the HBA you would have administrative support and, should it come to it, I would be prepared to stand as a witness. I hope that helps.
Stay safe