Revealed: The 67 canine breeds that could possibly be banned in Britain… is YOUR pooch on the checklist?
Sixty-seven dog breeds could be banned in Britain if new breeding guidelines set by parliament become mandatory, campaigners have warned.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for animal welfare has launched a new tool to determine if a dog is healthy.
The cross-party committee has developed a 10-point checklist of extreme physical characteristics which can make for a poorly pooch.
They include mottled colouration, excessive skin folds, bulging outward-turning eyes, drooping eyelids, under or overbite and a muzzle that interrupts breathing.
The assessment – which is currently voluntary but expected to become law within five years – aims to drive out breeds with these sorts of exaggerated attributes.
It comes after studies have shown animals of these varieties can sometimes suffer pain, discomfort and frustration from birth.
But critics have cautioned the new criteria will see some 67 of the most popular types of dog in the UK automatically dubbed unhealthy, according to The Times.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for animal welfare has launched a new test to determine if a dog is healthy. Popular breeds like shih tzus (pictured, file photo) would not pass
Even the late Queen’s beloved Welsh corgis would not be deemed healthy under the new criteria. Pictured: Elizabeth II, who was then a princess, holding a corgi in September 1950
The Kennel Club, a national organisation for dog health, welfare and training, has collated and shared the list of types it fears are at risk with its members.
The corgi, along with several other dwarf varieties of dog, would be considered unhealthy under the guidelines due to their short legs and closeness to the ground.
This is despite the fact these have long been highly prized features of the breed, which has historically been used for herding cattle.
Their small size helped them avoid any unwelcome kicks from the cows as they rounded them up.
Margaret Hoggarth, secretary of the Welsh Corgi League, asserted the animals are ‘very healthy’ – but are being ‘lumped in’ with the unhealthy, just for their short legs.
Elizabeth II owned more than 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis and and dorgis, a corgi-dachshund mix, during her reign.
They were her constant companions and became an icon of her time on the throne.
After her death in 2022, her dogs, Muick and Sandy, attended her funeral, before they were adopted by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
The checklist classes dogs with shorter legs as those with a gap between their chest and ground that is less than one third of their shoulder height.
It asserts they can face an array of health issues, including spinal deformities, joint pain, arthritis and limb abnormalities, like bowed legs.
Animal campaigners have called the new set of rules a ‘blunt tool’, providing a subjective visual means to assess health, rather than rigorous medical tests.
Beverley Cuddy, editor of Dogs Today magazine and founder of the Union of Good Dog People, which promotes ethical breeding, called the criteria ‘shocking’.
‘We need proper, nuanced tests that don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater or we’re going to lose Britain’s most beloved breeds in the blink of an eye,’ she said.
And Ms Cuddy said the public would not be the only ones ‘outraged’ by it: ‘I think the late Queen would have been very upset by this proposal.’
Crufts, the world-famous dog show, hosted by The Kennel Club, begins on Thursday.
But it has been suggested four of the last ten winners of best in show, the highest award at the contest, would not pass the new assessment.
The 2024 recipient of the gong was Viking, an Australian Shepherd – a breed which would not pass the new test.
Elizabeth II owned more than 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis and and dorgis, a corgi-dachshund mix, during her reign. Pictured: The late Queen is greeted by local corgi enthusiasts on a tour of Canada in May 2005
The Animal Welfare Act already outlaws breeding dogs that are suffering – and campaigners have said the new criteria expand how this is defined.
The tool was launched in the House of Lords as a voluntary scheme – but animal activists have warned the intention has always been to make it mandatory.
In fact, some local authorities are already using the checklist to assess breeders.
Under the guidelines, only dogs which receive a score of eight out of ten are above can be bred.
In five years, the threshold will increase to nine, before reaching ten in a decade.
The tool was developed by Dan O’Neill, associate professor of companion animal epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College.
He explained his idea was to have no dogs with extreme characteristics bred by a licensed breeder in the UK in ten years’ time.
To be made obligatory, the rules would need to be formally added to animal welfare legislation in parliament.
This process would make using the checklist a requirement for any breeder seeking a licence in the UK.
Currently, licensed dog breeders must comply with health obligations set out in the Licensing of Activities Involving Animals (England) Regulations 2018.
It states: ‘No dog may be kept for breeding if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of its genotype, phenotype or state of health that breeding from it could have a detrimental effect on its health or welfare.’
But this requirement is often not applied in practice, as councils lack a standardised measure to assess if a dog’s health would be harmed by extreme characteristics.
The website for the tool reads: ‘We therefore believe that any commercial breeder who breeds from a dog who fails the innate health assessment (IHA) could be in breach of their licence.’
This does not apply to non-commercial dog breeders.
‘It is our hope that the regulation of dog breeding will ultimately be amended to include a requirement for all dogs to have good innate health regardless of whether bred by a hobby breeder or a commercial breeder,’ the site continues.
The APPG has even gone as far as to produce a pledge for TV and film producers and advertisers to sign.
It has been suggested four of the last ten winners of best in show at Crufts would not pass the new assessment. Pictured: 2024 winner Viking, an Australian Shepherd – a breed which would not be deemed healthy under the new guidelines
It would see them promise only to depict dogs that pass the test completely.
The tool has been endorsed by several key organisations, including the Royal Veterinary College, the RSPCA and Dogs Trust.
A spokesperson for The Kennel Club said the checklist was ‘neither nuanced nor robust enough’ to help breeders stamp out extreme characteristics.
They also noted it does not come with a system to publicly record test data and track the progress of breeds more generally, both of which would help breeders.
The club said it has flagged concerns over some specific criteria of the test which it thinks could have ‘unintended consequences’ for certain breeds and breeders.
