Question reference: S5W-28042
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 23 March 2020
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 March 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether, as part of its plans to update and strengthen existing licensing legislation covering dog breeding, selling and rehoming, it will introduce a requirement for anyone breeding, selling or transferring the ownership of (a) a litter of puppies to be registered and (b) more than one litter of puppies to be licensed.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not propose to introduce a requirement for anyone breeding, selling or transferring the ownership of a litter of puppies to be registered. We also do not propose to require licensing for anyone breeding, selling or transferring more than one litter of puppies.
The Scottish Government's new licensing legislation will require anyone breeding three or more litters of puppies in any twelve month period to be licensed by the local authority. Under current legislation the threshold number of litters for licensing in any twelve month period is five. We will also be ending the third party sale of puppies under 6 months old by anyone other than the breeder that bred them.