The Kennel Club

The Kennel Club ("KC") is a kennel club based in London and Aylesbury, England.

About the Kennel Club

The aim of the Kennel Club is to promote in every way the general improvement of dogs, and the Kennel Club team works hard behind the scenes to achieve this aim and also towards 'making a difference for dogs'.

The Kennel Club is the UK’s largest organisation dedicated to the health and welfare of dogs.

Objective: The Kennel Club of today holds within it the broadest remit to protect and promote the general wellbeing of dogs. At its heart are programmes and investments in education and health initiatives to help dog owners across the UK to have healthy happy dogs living long lives with responsible owners.

How the Kennel Club invested its money in 2009 in order to achieve this objective:

• Registrations and Healthcare = £5 million

(Processing registrations, Petlog and insurance)

• Canine Activities = £2.3 million

(Processing licences, judges and awards for shows and the activity disciplines)

• Education = £1.9 million

(Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme, Safe and Sound for children, Young Kennel Club, Crufts and Discover Dogs)

• Health, Welfare and Charity = £3.2 million

(Support for the Kennel Club Charitable Trust - making a difference for dogs)

• External Affairs = £1 million

(Lobbying Parliament at Westminster, Scotland, Wales and the EU on issues of concern to dog owners)

Basic history: Originally founded in 1873, the Kennel Club’s sole consideration was to regulate the conduct of dog shows and trials and then later to register dogs to avoid the duplication of a name in the stud book. Whilst these functions remain, the Kennel Club has developed in ways that could not possibly have been imagined when it was established in Victorian times.

The Kennel Club is a voluntary register for all dogs, whether cross breed or pedigree, and runs an Accredited Breeder Scheme whose members have agreed to follow basic responsible breeding practices for breeding puppies. The Kennel Club runs Crufts, the world’s largest dog show and licenses over 4,000 dog shows and trials each year. It is also at the forefront of the development of many canine health initiatives and invests in education programmes and other campaigns to protect and promote the general wellbeing of dogs.

The Kennel Club is concerned with anti-dog legislation, promotes the place of dogs in society and actively represents the interests of responsible dog owners , whether Kennel Club registered or not.

Things you might not know about the Kennel Club:

• Lobby the government on dog welfare issues, including banning electric shock collars, revising the Dangerous Dogs Act and improving access for dog walkers.
• Give grants to dog welfare charities and to scientific research to aid the development of health testing for canine diseases, through our Charitable Trust. For instance CLAD, a disease that caused early death in puppies, has already been eliminated in Iri

sh Setters and Irish Red & White Setters as a result of DNA tests that were developed with Charitable Trust funding. It also works with the British Veterinary Association on eye testing schemes and screening programmes for hip and elbow dysplasia. In the last 20 years around 200,000 hip dysplasia x-rays have been assessed and overall hip scores on the twenty most affected breeds have all improved. The Kennel Club Charitable Trust has donated more than £4.5 million since its inception to dog welfare charities and to support research into canine diseases.

• Run the UK’s largest dog training programme, the Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme and educational initiatives, such as Safe and Sound, which helps children to stay safe around dogs.

Promote the place of dogs in society – Through campaigns such as Open for Dogs, which aims to improve access for dogs and dog owners.

• Licence clubs and runs competitions for fun dog sports such as agility, which helps to keep both dog and owner healthy.

Run educational events such as Discover Dogs, which helps people to make responsible and appropriate dog buying choices. Established the Young Kennel Club in 1985, which encourages young people to take an interest in caring, training and activities with dogs.

• Run a Dog Health Group, which includes independent vets and scientific advisors, who work with the Kennel Club to improve breed health.

The Kennel Club is supported in its work by a wide range of organisations. Some of these supporters include:

The Royal Veterinary College, the British Veterinary Association, Pets As Therapy, Canine Partners, the Animal Health Trust and the University of Liverpool.

“Pets As Therapy would like to thank the Kennel Club (Charitable Trust) for the financial support they have awarded to the Charity over the years. This support has brought comfort, companionship and therapy to thousands of members of the general public… Pets As Therapy hope our association with the Kennel Club will continue for many years to come and wish to support the good work the Kennel Club are striving to achieve.” Pets as Therapy

“Breed standards and judging criteria are set by the Kennel Club in conjunction with the breed societies and clubs. These are, quite properly, matters that the Kennel Club have under constant review. However, many other aspects of the work of the Kennel Club that have received less publicity, but have great bearing on the health of pedigree dogs, include their support for research into pedigree dog diseases and their part in introducing screening for common and inherited diseases.” Royal Veterinary College.

“Kennel Club represents the best interest of all dog owners, both show, pedigree or non-pedigree pets. At a time when so many unwarranted restrictions and negative media coverage of dogs abound, Dr Mugford believes that the Kennel Club has been a consistent defender of the positive role of dogs in society.” Dr Roger Mugford, the animal psychologist and Managing Director of the Company of Animals.

The Kennel Club works closely with the veterinary profession and involves many sectors within its decision making process. This includes Past President of the British Veterinary Association, Nick Blayney, and television vet, Marc Abraham who are both Veterinary Advisors to the Kennel Club.

Additionally, the Kennel Club General Committee includes:

Mr S P Dean BVet.Med MRCVS Mrs G F Simpson, BVMS, MRCVS Dr R James MRCVS The Kennel Club Dog Health Group includes a number of scientists/vets:

Dr Ruth Barbour, BA, MB ChB, FRCGP Prof. Mike Herrtage, MA, BVSc, BVR, DVD, DSAM, DECVIM, DECVDI, MRCVS, Dean of Cambridge Veterinary School Prof. Sheila Crispin, MA, VetMB, BSc, PhD, DVA, DVOpthal, DipECVO, FRCVS, Past President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Prof. Jeff Sampson, BSc DPhil, KC Senior Scientific Advisor Caroline Kisko BSc, KC Secretary Diana Brooks-Ward, BSc, KC Health Co-ordinator

Operation

Main article: Kennel Club Groups

The Kennel Club’s best known event is the Crufts dog conformation show, held since 1928, which attracts competitors from all over the world. Crufts is held every March at the NEC, Birmingham. The Kennel Club also holds the fun dog event Discover Dogs, in London every November. This event features the Scruffts grand final for crossbred and mixed breed dogs.

The Kennel Club registration system divides dogs into seven breed groups: Hound, Working, Terrier, Gundog, Pastoral, Utility and Toy. The Kennel Club currently recognises 210 breeds of dog.

The Kennel Club has a Charitable Trust (registered charity no. 327802) which was established in 1987 with the objective of 'Making a difference for dogs'. It has donated over £3 million to a range of organisations and charities to fund a wide variety of work ranging from Scientific and Research grants to welfare initiatives.

The Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme

The Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme promotes good breeding practice and, as a breeder, you may wish to consider joining. There are set requirements that Accredited Breeders must agree to follow, which encourage the breeding of healthy, well-adjusted puppies. In return, Accredited Breeders may use the scheme literature and log on their website to promote their breeding.

The Scheme currently has the following requirements

Accredited Breeders must:

Ensure that all breeding stock is Kennel Club registered.

Hand over the dog's registration certificate at time of sale if available, or forward it to the new owner as soon as possible. Explain any endorsements that might pertain and obtain written and signed confirmation from the new owner, at or before the date on which the dog is physically transferred, that the new owner is aware of the endorsement(s), regardless of whether or not the endorsed registration certificate is available.

• Follow Kennel Club policy regarding maximum age and number/frequency of litters

• Permanently identify breeding stock by DNA profile, microchip, or tattoo

• Make use of health screening schemes, relevant to their breed, on all breeding stock. These schemes include DNA testing, hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia and inherited eye conditions

• Socialise the puppies and provide written advice, in the Puppy Sales Wallet, on continuation of socialisation, exercise and future training

• Provide written advice, in the scheme Puppy Sales Wallet, on feeding and worming programmes

• Provide a written record, in the Puppy Sales Wallet, on the immunisation measures taken

• Provide reasonable post-sales telephone advice

• Inform buyers of the requirements and the recommendations that apply to Kennel Club Accredited Breeders as well as the existence of the complaints procedure

• Draw up a contract of sale (see below link) for each puppy and provide a copy in the Puppy Sales Wallet.

In addition there are a number of recommendations

Accredited Breeders are strongly encouraged to:

• Make sure that whelping facilities accord with good practice

• The contract of sale should clearly lay out to the buyer the nature and details of any guarantee given (e.g. time limit) and/or any provisions for refund or return and replacement of puppy. If endorsements are being used the contract should also explain why these have been placed and under what circumstances they would be removed (if any). The contract should be signed and dated by both breeder and purchaser, showing that both have agreed to these terms

• Commit to help, if necessary, with the re-homing of a dog, for whatever reason, throughout the dog's lifetime

• Follow relevant breed health screening recommendations. http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/breedhealth

How to find a Kennel Club Accredited Breeder

Kennel Club Accredited Breeders who use the Kennel Club Find a Puppy service (http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/puppiesforsale) to advertise their puppies are flagged to show that they are accredited. The Accredited Breeder Scheme Team (www.thekennelclub.org.uk/accreditedbreederscheme)can provide contact details for Accredited Breeders of your chosen breed, but please bear in mind that not all of these breeders will currently have puppies available.

The Club's Accredited Breeder Scheme - meant to help potential dog owners identify responsible breeders - has been described by Dogs Trust as "full of pitfalls, the main one being that it's self-certificating". The APGAW report indicates that the low breeding standards practiced by some in the ABS may allow the public to be "falsely led into thinking a puppy they buy from an accredited breeder registered with the KC will have no health or welfare problems associated with its breeding history." It called for more random checks and robust enforcement of the scheme and states that "the use of the word ‘pedigree’ should be tied to a high standard of breeding (for health and welfare) across the board with the KC not just with the few that decide to join the Accredited Breeder Scheme (ABS)."

The Inquiry believes that ultimately the KC can win back trust by showing that they are willing to take responsibility for dogs registered with them and that they are willing to lose members who do not meet high standards.

The report warned that if the health measures implemented by the KC fails, government regulations might be necessary. The Kennel Club has issued a response to the report. PDE producer Jemima Harrison condemned the KC's response, stating that they are downplaying the criticism of the KC in the report and misrepresenting the findings.

History

History of the Kennel Club 15-Jun-06

The middle of the 19th Century found the prosperous and leisured Victorians with a passion for exhibitions and 'instructive entertainment'. The development of the railways brought the whole country within reach of the Great Exhibition of 1851, housed in what was to become the Crystal Palace, and during the years that followed, many exhibitions of widely varying character were held.

The first organised dog show was held in the Town Hall, Newcastle-on-Tyne on the 28th and 29th June 1859. The Show was organised by Messrs. Shorthouse and Page at the suggestion of Mr R Brailsford and there were sixty entries of Pointers and Setters. Only one class was held for each breed at these early shows and the dogs were unidentified except for their kennel names. Reference to the old catalogues reveals Mr Murrel's 'Spot', competing against Mr Brown's 'Venus' for a prize of 22 shillings. By 1870 it was decided that a controlling body was necessary to legislate in canine matters and a Mr S E Shirley, MP, from Warwickshire, called together the National Dog Club Committee and a discussion ensued which resulted in twelve gentlemen meeting at No 2 Albert Mansions, Victoria Street, London, on 4th April 1873, and this meeting marked the founding of the Kennel Club.

One of the earliest undertakings of the newly formed Kennel Club was the compilation of a Stud Book. The Editor, Mr Frank C S Pearce, was the son of Revd. Thomas Pearce, of the well-known 'Idstone' kennel and contributor to 'The Field' publication.

The first volume of the Stud Book contained the records of shows from 1859-73. The Kennel Club Calendar was also compiled in the same year and lists two shows each year for the next ten years.

It was also obvious that some system of distinctive naming would have to be introduced to overcome the confusion arising out of `quantities of Spots, Bobs, Bangs, Jets, Nettles, Vics, most of them insufficiently described and none of them being well-known dogs'.

In 1880 the Committee introduced a system of `universal registration' which was strongly opposed at first, but the advantage of reserving the use of a name for a dog was quickly seen and accepted. Registration in 1880 was nothing more than the registration of a name to avoid duplication in the Stud Book, the pedigree was of little importance and only came as an aid to identification at a later stage.

The Committee introduced many new rules and regulations and after a few years a sound system of government was developed which was adopted by many overseas Kennel Clubs. At the end of the century the character of dog showing had so improved that about half of the exhibitors were women, and members of the Royal Family were showing dogs regularly. His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales was a staunch supporter of the movement to prevent the cropping of dogs' ears, and from 9th April 1898, such dogs have been ineligible for competition under Kennel Club Rules.

In 1900 nearly thirty Championship Shows were held and the smaller informal shows were becoming more and more popular. The policy of the Committee was to keep rules and restrictions to a minimum and shows were 'recognised', 'licensed', or 'sanctioned' provided that the executive of the show agreed to adopt the Kennel Club show regulations. The guarantors of a show signed an undertaking (and still do) to hold and conduct the show under and in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Kennel Club. In 2004, 3,926 licenses were issued for the various canine activities of which 1,048 were for Companion Dog Shows.

The number of dogs registered at the Kennel Club has increased tremendously over the years, indicating an ever-growing interest in pure-bred dogs - their ownership, their exhibition and competition. At the same time there has been a tremendous growth in pet ownership of pure-bred dogs and in recent years the average number of dogs registered with the Kennel Club has been about 280,000 annually. The registration system has been altered during the past few years and it has been shown that the requirement is for a simple system easily understood by all. In 1981 a computer was installed to process registrations and the system has been developed to handle other Kennel Club services. The database now contains over 6 million dog names.

The Kennel Club has been keenly involved in the development of many health initiatives to help support breeders to breed health, happy dogs. One of the first initiatives was the implementation of what is now an extremely strong relationship with the British Veterinary Association (BVA) with the introduction of the Hip Dysplasia programme in 1965. In the last twenty years alone, some 100,000 x-rays have been assessed and information registered on the Kennel Club database. The range of schemes developed and in December 1965, the KC/BVA announced the start of the eye scheme which was initiated for the control of progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) in Elkhounds and in 1998 the KC/BVA added the elbow dysplasia scheme to their official screening programmes.

In addition, the Kennel Club, the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and many breed clubs have been instrumental in the funding of DNA tests. These tests are used by breeders to help assess the fitness of their dogs and reduce the prevalence of inherited diseases in future generations.

In 1998 the Kennel Club appointed a Canine Genetics Co-ordinator, Dr Jeff Sampson and in 2004 the Kennel Club created an educational resource at the Animal Health Trust to aid education of breeders and owners on the genetic health of dogs.

Although the prime objectives of the Kennel Club were originally related to the interests of the pure-bred dog and their participation in shows and trials, the Club has in recent times become concerned by `anti-dog' legislation and actively represents the interests of responsible dog owners whether the dog is Kennel Club registered or not. The Canine Code was published in 1988 and the Good Citizen Dog Scheme, aimed at education towards responsible dog ownership, was set up in 1992.

The Young Kennel Club, catering for those between the ages of 6 and 24 was established in 1985. The Kennel Club Charitable Trust, founded in 1985 gives numerous donations to projects such as canine rescue and dogs for the disabled, and supports research into canine diseases.

From the original twelve gentlemen who founded the Kennel Club, the number of those involved in the government of the dog world in this country has increased tremendously, and the Kennel Club is now concerned with aspects of general canine matters which could not have been foreseen in 1873 when the conduct of dog shows and trials was the sole consideration. The object of the Club, to promote in every way the general improvement of dogs, has been achieved in such a way that would astound the founders of the Kennel Club if they could see the standing of the dog today, not only in Britain but all over the world.

The Kennel Club of today holds within it the broadest remit to protect and promote the general wellbeing of dogs. At its heart are programmes and investments in education and health initiatives to help dog owners across the UK to have healthy happy dogs living long lives with responsible owners. All funds from the organisation go straight back into the Club to fund the programmes in the best interest of dogs.

In conclusion, the Kennel Club's strategic objective is:

"To raise the relevance of the Kennel Club in the eyes of the public at large, dog owners and those who take part in canine activities so as to be better able to promote in every way the general improvement of dogs."

Kennel Club Art Gallery

The Kennel Club Art Gallery is located at the Club's headquarters at 1 Clarges Street, near Green Park tube station in Westminster, London. The gallery is devoted to fine art about dogs and features themed exhibitions, as well as a permanent collection. Artists in the collection include Maud Earl, George Earl, Richard Ansdell, Arthur Wardle and Cecil Aldin. The gallery is open by appointment.

External links

• The Kennel Club
• Crufts
• Kennel Club Art Gallery

Criticism

The organisation was criticised on the BBC programme Pedigree Dogs Exposed for allowing breed standards, judging standards and breeding practices which are said to be compromise the health of purebred dogs. The programme led various sponsors to withdraw their participation in Crufts and the BBC eventually dropped Crufts 2009 from its coverage. The Kennel Club initially defended their practices, and criticised the programme as "highly biased". It also lodged a complaint to regulatory authority Ofcom claiming "unfair treatment and editing".

Due to the strong public response, the Kennel Club started rolling out new health plans. Breed standards for every breed went under review and show judges would be required to choose only healthy dogs. New breed standards for 209 breeds were announced in January 2009, and close inbreeding was to be banned.

In February, the results of an independent scientific report commissioned by the RSPCA concluded that "exaggerated physical features and inherited diseases cause serious welfare problems in pedigree dogs." It states that "Breeding practices and efforts by breed societies and kennel clubs, to date, have been ineffective at protecting the welfare of many breeds of domestic dog" and that "changes in breeding and selection practices are urgently required." The Kennel Club states that the report "fails totally to recognise the real steady progress and advance of scientific knowledge that has already been made in the area of pedigree dog health."

As a direct result of the BBC programme, the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) started an inquiry into the issues surrounding inherited diseases and breeding problems in dogs in November 2008. The results of the inquiry, released in November 2009, was consistent with the RSPCA report, mentioning the "serious problem with the health and welfare of many pedigree dogs" and how they can be caused by current breeding practices. The report made various recommendations: Breed standards should be based less on "visual aesthetics" and more on whether the dogs would be "fit for purpose". Where available for particular breeds, health tests should be strongly recommended and individuals not tested should have their test status reflected in registration certificates and should not be eligible for Champion titles.

The inquiry also stated that "the KC should make the decision about whether registering dogs or dog health and welfare is their primary objective and focus their attentions more precisely on this when taking this issue forward."

More4 was criticised for their decision to broadcast Crufts 2010. "Until the problems of health and welfare are dealt with, the showing of certain dogs with problems associated with inappropriate breed standards is wrong". A More4 spokesperson stated that its "coverage will place a particular emphasis on health and welfare issues, providing a high profile platform to keep these issues in the public eye – something that has been welcomed by the British Veterinary Association."