Risk rating
Alongside welfare, the breeder’s compliance history will also be assessed, to determine whether the breeder is either a low risk or high risk operator, i.e. whether it should be expected the breeder will maintain their standards for the duration of their licence period.
To obtain a low risk rating breeders will need to demonstrate they have been maintaining acceptable standards for a minimum of three years. Factors that will be considered include history in meeting licensing standards, nature of complaints received and how they were dealt with and the quality of record keeping. Only compliance history which has been obtained either through local authority licensing or through a UKAS accredited scheme, such as the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme, will be considered.
Breeders who haven’t held a dog breeding licence before or haven’t been members of a UKAS accredited scheme, such as the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme for a minimum of three years will automatically be categorised as high risk and will not be able to gain the highest star rating at first and benefit from a three year licence duration.