I think flat faced dogs should be banned

I dont see a difficulty with phasing in a law that prevents the breeding and or buying of a certain breed.
Clearly existing animals should be left to live out the rest of their lives.

On the one hand we are introducing animals to the wild for the sake of diversity (amongst other reasons).
But on the other we are restricting diversity in breeds to the individual animals detriment.
As the so called intelligent beings, we should take charge of the situation in order to alleviate the suffering of any animal.

Even if you don't have health insurance, everybody with an animal should have some form of public liability insurance so that if your dog causes an accident, bites someone, etc, insurance can kick in.
Licensing of puppy breeders should be based on the breeding conditions of the parents. You only have to look at the conditions of the dogs who come into Many Tears Rescue Charity to realise that there is something very wrong with the system as it is. The Kennel Club Accredited Breeder system is better but I know for a fact that some accredited breeders do not always follow the rules and very little is spot checked.

Thank you Tizliz you saved me the bother.AS for Gsm it's called a back up. Now get your nose out of my finances because any more questions by you will be ignored. Go interrogate someone who gives a sh*t.

Join the Dog’s Trust, you get public liability ins with your membership

Blondiescot

Apart from having pet insurance to meet the cost of any health care your dog may need, you also need to take into account that most pet insurance policies include third party cover which would cover you in the event of your dog injuring another person, for instance. If your dog was to injure someone - not necessarily biting them, it could be knocking them over or anything - and that person were to make a claim against you, it could turn out to be very costly indeed.

I was just about to say this, too. I took out insurance when my usually well behaved spaniel took off one morning and ran towards the main road near a school at rush hour. I wasn’t concerned about health insurance so much as they were a hardy breed, unlike my whippets that, tough as they are, have a habit of running into walks and fences ( although I do tend to wrap mine in cotton wool and only let them off lead in secure fields or on the beach). My whole life flashed before me in that moment. Thankfully I managed to catch her before she reached the road. She had been in a field quite a distance from the school when she ran off.

Apart from having pet insurance to meet the cost of any health care your dog may need, you also need to take into account that most pet insurance policies include third party cover which would cover you in the event of your dog injuring another person, for instance. If your dog was to injure someone - not necessarily biting them, it could be knocking them over or anything - and that person were to make a claim against you, it could turn out to be very costly indeed.

Glad you have funds to pay a £15k credit card bill - so why mention the card? Clue must be in your username.

Why are you so obsessed with my finances GSM ? surely it's up to me to decide how I pay for things. Just pay it as I see fit but I have healthy finances. I pay off my credit card in full every month. Whether people take out insurance or not is entirely up to them as individuals I just don't feel the need. Of course it will never be compulsory . In all my years as a dog owner I have never found the need for insurance and that's entirely my choice. None of my animals have ever gone without treatment as a result of my finances. I choose to pay as I go. I managed perfectly well financially when losing 3 Dobermanns to cancer in the space of 18 months. Not so well mentally/emotionally.
Now if you've finished interrogating my finances have a nice day.

FF if you were to spend £15k on a credit card how long would that take you to pay off and how enormous would the debt become? You can’t compare it with having insurance or a spare £15k in the bank.

Several years ago my six year old spaniel cross suddenly developed mobility problems. He was put to sleep at home 24 days later. Extensive investigations identified an inoperable, brutal tumour along his spine. Two weeks later I found a small lump on my labradoodle’s shoulder. It was cancer. She was a very fit ten year old, had surgery and lived almost three happy years. Except she had mini seizures so needed mri scans.
The cost of these three totally unexpected events was about £15,000. Luckily my two were insured. I didn’t have to worry about sitting out payment I could focus on the dog. Insurance is nit cheap but that year of claims covered payments
I’ve never had that kind of trauma and expense before or since

Excellent.

There are, however, many less fortunate people who have nowhere near £15k in savings, and whose dogs would have to suffer or be destroyed if they were sick or injured. As a dog lover, I would rather be sure that their dogs were protected from that.

Compulsory insurance is unlikely to happen though.

I also know how insurance works and only ever take it out for the first year of their life. That gives me time to check they really are fit and healthy and anything else comes out of my pocket. I've never made a claim for any of them so experience tells me that it works for me. Never yet had a bill I couldn't afford. Plus I keep a 15k credit card available solely for their use should it ever be necessary.

I agree puppy farms are disgusting and should be banned except they are licenced by councils all over the country. Judgemental much or what? why assume I can't afford to treat my dogs or be willing to spend whatever it takes to keep them alive and well. I've had many dogs over the years and usually in multiples as I believe they are happier with a dog companion. Don't insult me because I happen to know how to recognise a puppy farm and am fully aware that licencing breeders does not in any way prove them to be reputable.

My daughter’s dog has had well over £10k’s worth of surgery - maybe nearer £15k. Luckily she had comprehensive insurance (and no, congenital conditions don’t count as pre-existing if the have not been diagnosed at the time the insurance is taken out - no insurance would be worth having if that were the case). She had to pay the excess each time, but it was a fraction of the cost of the bill.

Puppy farms are not licensed breeders FF. They are disgusting establishments which exploit dogs until they are no longer capable of breeding. I'm pleased if you are sufficiently well off to pay for whatever veterinary treatment your dogs may need. Unless you have a crystal ball you can't possibly imagine what treatment your dogs may require in the future. They may tear a ligament as one of mine did - I don't take out insurance because I am fortunate to be very well off, but for many uninsured dogs the cost of the operation would have meant they were euthanised. If you opt not to insure your dogs I hope, for their sake, that you have as much in the bank as I do, and are as willing to pay as I am. What if your dogs are run over and need expensive surgery? Will you just write them off?

'Licensed breeder' usually means puppy farm and why would I want insurance for my dogs when they don't need veterinary treatment. If they do ever need treatment I will pay for it. Also insurance won't pay out for existing conditions which covers most of the issues mentioned. If they're born with it surely it's pre-existing.

I wouldn't object to a 'licensed breeder only' policy; but if the number of puppies reduced it would push the prices up even more.

I would like to see it made compulsory to have decent veterinary insurance. I appreciate that it would make pet ownership too expensive for people on limited income though, and that for many older people a pet is a lifeline. Maybe there could be a levy on pet insurance so that older people could get free or subsidised treatment for things like dentistry that aren't life-threatening but cause pain for the animals.

There are far too many puppies. I wish breeding for sale could be tightly regulated. I have said before that I would like castration of male dogs to be mandatory unless owned by a licensed breeder. Looking tentatively online at local kennels for another rescue GSD, so many are heartbreakingly young. A great many lockdown puppies I expect, and of course now people have difficulty finding the money to look after a dog properly.

Cockapoos and labradoodles don't suffer the same physical health issues though as pugs, do they?

MissAdventure

That sounds like an ideal solution.
2 owners cross breeding their dogs on the basis of health, behaviour and other factors.

Nothing wrong with that, at all.

But that is how you get cockapoos and labradoodles. You can’t please everyone I suppose ?

Cross breeding, inbreeding are all fine.
Breeding animals that are unable to go about life easily, isn't.

I did actually buy a GSD puppy 12 weeks old from such a breeder. She wanted her GSD bitch to have one litter before spaying. she chose a fine local dog who enjoyed playing football with children. My other GSDs were rescues. None has been a badly made dog and all have had great natures.

I hate to think some of these highly sensitive dogs are kept as breeding machines.

That sounds like an ideal solution.
2 owners cross breeding their dogs on the basis of health, behaviour and other factors.

Nothing wrong with that, at all.

Ot doesnt have to be one or the other though, does it?

It does if you want to reintroduce mongrels. They were 'love children' of street-corner liaisons between wandering dogs who weren't neutered. They just won't exist unless we go back to that. When owners interfere in the breeding process they are only going to let their dogs mate with the same breed (in-breeding) or with another breed that produces compatible cross-breed puppies - why would they do otherwise? Short of 'banning' dogs altogether, those are the choices, really.

Ot doesnt have to be one or the other though, does it?
Although, frankly, if a dog needed multiple ops and interventions and was struggling to breathe at the end of its life span, then putting it to sleep may be considered the kindest thing to do.