I've just filled in the KC online contact form, to report someone who is either abusing the logo, or is a member and breeding cross breeds, as well as aiming to breed silver Labradors.  Does anyone have any experience of reporting someone who is misusing the scheme?  Is that enough, or do I need to email someone direct, if so, does anyone have an email address they could pm me?

Thanks in advance.

sorry cant help you but, good on you for doing this!

Chuckle, I'm very persistent when it comes to chasing up irresponsible breeding, I joined a car forum last year, to give a piece of my mind to someone who'd mated their rescue Labrador bitch with his dad's 'big poodle' so they could have a litter of hypoallergenic labradoodles which would pay for a spray job for his car.  The forum got very busy very quickly, and the post was taken off, and the topic banned, with the forum administrators admonishing their member for their actions.  I'm a bit of a terrier when I see people abusing their dogs like that ;)

Bill Lambert is the ABS chief

The team will respond and keep you up to date and also if they need further information

Thanks for that, have emailed him direct with a link to the offending website.  Not only are they breeding 'springerdors' but their breeding stock isn't fully health tested either, if at all!!! 

Thanks, I've sent an email as well, can't hurt to have the information twice.  Will update this post to let anyone interested know what action is taken. 

Thanks, I would be interested to hear the outcome of this.  It makes a bit of a mockery of the ABS if it is so easy to abuse.  I was contemplating joining, but I think this puts me off, as I wouldn't want to be lumped into the pot with this numpty...

Yes, it is a bit of a mockery when their website openly states what they're doing, and the dogs are on the KC's own health database; I suspect they are just numpty enough to have used the logo without being a member. 

lets hope they are just useing it and dont belong to it!!
but im not renewing mine this year! not because im have a long rest from breeding BUT so many people are makeing a mockery of the ABS sadly and im not wanting to be apart of that ,but if it changes i will aply again in afew years.
xxxx

I spotted these people yesterday, but didn't notice the ABS logo... shocking.  Wonder if several complaints would aid the cause :-) 

Wouldn't hurt ;)

You can find Bill Lambert's email address easily enough if you google him as well. 

I reported someone last year they were AB and selling 2 week old chihuahua's out the back of a van :( , the kennel club never got back to me with the outcome even though I emailed numerous times. Also I reported them to the RSPCA they also failed to let me know the outcome , when I called the inspector for an update she said she was having a lot of trouble locating them as they were always on the move. I did say to respond to an advert and they would catch them out that way , whether or not they did I do not know :( .

Just looked at the AB list on the Kennel Club, and they are indeed listed on it as AB since October 2010.  Shocking!

Really??  Well let's hope they don't remain that way! 

Good for you maybe if more were willing to inform on the abusers of the ABS more of the rubbish breeders would be throw off.

Absolutely agree , perhaps there neeeds to be some sort of incentive to whistleblow these types of breeders as that would also act as a deterant. Is it enough to throw them out of the ABS or should they have their Affix and any involment with the KC withdrawn ?

> Is it enough to throw them out of the ABS or should they have their Affix and any involment with the KC withdrawn ?

Don't breed but would have thought that it would do no harm for the KC to be seen to be pro active and withdraw their Affix and any further involvment with them.

People can be disciplined for bringing the dog world into disrepute, lying about ABS status and breaking the rules would apply I would think?

Posting and dashing as I'm running late today, but this is the response from Bill Lambert:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention; we are already aware of
the situation and any breaches of Accredited Breeder Scheme will be
investigated and appropriate action will be taken.

I have replied asking to be kept informed of any action they take in this instance, will post any progress. 

And Bill's response again:

I do understand what you are saying but we really can't enter into
correspondence regarding individual cases. Disciplinary issues are a
matter between the Kennel Club and the breeder concerned and whilst I
know that there are those who would like to see us "name and shame" we
simply will not do that.

Suffice to say that we do take action on breaches - well over 600
breeders who previously had accreditation are no longer members. There
will always be those outside of the scheme who seek to criticise but
often they are those who have there own agenda and who have no wish to
participate in compulsory health testing; they want to make rules for
others that they have no intention of adopting themselves.

I'll check on the website concerned in a week or so and see if anything's changed.....

who have no wish to participate in compulsory health testing

I didn't think being a member of the ABS meant that you had to do compulsary testing ? I thought that was one of the reasons that people were not happy with the scheme ?

> Suffice to say that we do take action on breaches - well over 600
> breeders who previously had accreditation are no longer members.

Good grief!  It just makes a complete mockery of the whole system really.  I was contemplating joining, but this is the final nail in the coffin as far as I am concerned, until the KC sort their act out.  The scheme is not worth the paper it is written on at the moment, and is just giving some 'breeders' a cloak of legitimacy.  (apologies to the reputable breeders on here who are members, but I feel that there are a good proportion of people who are abusing the scheme as some sort of marketing tool).

kennel maiden, the only problem is, if responsible breeders don't support the scheme, then it will simply fall flat.  I don't know of a magic way to stop people trying to join and abusing the scheme, and I'm not sure what that figure of 600 is exactly, it may include people who decided they didn't want to be associated with the scheme, and so let their membership lapse, I didn't ask for any breakdown.  As much as I don't like the fact that the ABS is openly abused, I don't see any alternatives, except what is currently available, which is basically breed club membership(s) and promoting your own ethics either via a website, or on somewhere like here. 

I did check on the website for the 'breeder' I reported earlier, and they still had the ABS logo up on numerous pages.

> I'm not sure what that figure of 600 is exactly, it may include people who decided they didn't want to be associated with the scheme, and so let their membership lapse

Bill told me that many chose to jump before they were pushed! Others gave up because, although they may have health certification for their own dogs, they felt having to obtain it for the stud dog was too much trouble :-(

I agree that many more of us should be in the ABS. If you look at Polly's thread, a central place where the 'cut above' breeder can be located is so needed at the moment and perhaps instead of constantly looking for and find fault we should report more people and insist that ABS is a mark of quality. We surely need one at this time.

I dont sell puppies very often and never through the KC lists but I still think we must work from within to alter the public's perception of what a 'good dog breeder' really is .

I have to say, I've been having an email conversation with Bill Lambert on and off this afternoon, I've been dashing here there and everywhere inbetween so it was a bit hurried, but he has been incredibly helpful.  I do support the ABS, but, like others, even though I'm not a member, have been frustrated that the loopholes have been easy to exploit, so I also hope that good breeders become members, or at least more involved in weeding out the unethical breeders, as they are most likely in a better position than many to spot any clues.