The conclusion of the judgement is that the Norwegian Kennel Club, the Norwegian Bulldog Club, the Norwegian Cavalier Club and the six breeders who were sued all lost the case. If the judgement becomes final, the defendants will no longer be allowed to breed English Bulldogs and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

If all the good work being done today by the NKK and the breed clubs for English Bulldogs and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels must end, we’re concerned that this will have a negative impact on dog welfare, says Tom Øystein Martinsen, chair of the executive board of the Norwegian Kennel Club.

The judgement also makes it very clear that the breeding work done by the breeders through the breed clubs and the NKK is best practice, and a lot of good breeding work has been achieved. The NKK therefore finds it worrying that all this good work to improve dog welfare will not be allowed to continue in organised forms.

Research-based or arbitrary breeding

A ban on organized breeding isn’t a ban on the breed itself, and the consequences of this are considerable. Irresponsible individuals will stand ready to take over the market, producing dogs that are bred without any kind of checks. All the expertise, health requirements and information about the health status and history of the dogs used for breeding will be lost, says Martinsen.

English Bulldogs and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are extremely popular breeds and the demand for them is guaranteed to remain high. Even though it is forbidden to breed from these dogs, rogue operators motivated by pure profit will take advantage of the opportunity to sell them.

This new situation means that all such breeding will become unregulated. As the situation stands today, with no obligation to microchip dogs and no record available of the breeders operating outside the NKK system, unregistered breeding can take place without any kind of follow up or control.

The solution is registered dogs

We in the NKK want to ensure dog welfare, just like the Norwegian Society for Protection of Animals. But for us the obvious way to solve health challenges is knowledge-based, using registered dogs. This way we can ensure that only fit and healthy animals are used for breeding, and that sick ones are excluded, says Martinsen.

The NKK system imposes strict health requirements on the different breeds, and the NKK works closely with specialists and research institutions to ensure that breeding goes in the right direction.

Dog welfare comes first

The Norwegian Kennel Club, the Norwegian Bulldog Club, the Norwegian Cavalier Club and the six breeders put dog welfare first. For all of them, the overriding objective is that the dogs that are bred should be healthy ones that can live long, happy lives, and also bring happiness to their owners and society.

Because of our commitment to improving dog welfare, we will now carefully consider whether to appeal the judgement that has been delivered, says Martinsen.