Just wondering how 'legal' is a puppy sales contract is? Or is a puppy sales contract really only a statement of trust between the breeder and purchaser that the purchaser will abide by it's terms, i.e not breeding/returning dog if they cannot continue to look after it etc

i dont think it has any legal standing at all unless drawn up by a solicitor , i foster for  a cat rescue and our cats go out on contract aswell unfortunatly they are not legally binding but we just hope they dont figure that out !

Not breeding, all you can do is have the pup endorsed and make sure that is in writing. Unregistered pups being bred you can do nothing to stop. Not selling on, absolutely nothing you can do about it. My contract was drawn up by a solicitor and therefore it says I will help to rehome a dog at any time, it doesn't say it must be brought back as that wouldn't be legal. (Obviously in the other written info and when speaking face to face I TELL all buyers I will take a pup back at any time during its life.) It's no different to buy a dog than buying a car, once it's yours you can do what you want with it. The only way you could get around it would be by co-owning every pup you sell. There are actually breeders that do this.

The contract does not need to be drawn up by a solicitor you can do it yourself but it must be fair and reasonable and it is best checked by a solicitor. For example if you do not want the animal to be used for breeding you must make a particular point of having that part pointed out to the the purchaser and initialled by both parties.

PS the signing needs to be witnessed

out of interest nova if a contract was signd and the new owner bred the girl what would happen?? could you stop them from regin the pups or any thing eles?? x

Only if the registrations had been endorsed "Progeny not for registration" and you'd explained what that meant to the new owners, and they'd signed that they understood and agreed to it.

yes i know that Jg i think ive read what nova has put wrong LOL ive misunderstud what she was saying re breeding :)

If you have a water tight contract and it is broken then you can take the other party to court and claim damages - you can't actually stop someone breaking a contract only take action if they do. I do not think you could claim back the animal or the litter as that would be deemed unreasonable.

thankyou thats what i wanted to know x

next question how do you achieve a "watertight contract" ?

I asked our Solicitor to look over our contracts years ago and he said that

If it's in writing be it on a sheet of paper or the back of a fag packet, if they've signed it, it's legally binding.

A verbal agreement IS legally binding... the problem is proving it.

As far as sales contracts go - they have SOME worth on the endorsements front, ie, IF you explain and the buyer says they have understood and signs to that effect, that you will not remove endorsements on a pups paperwork without them fulfilling some conditions (or indeed that you won't remove them at all, ever) then that is fine and they haven't a leg to stand on say in a small claims court, to MAKE you remove the endorsements.

Doesn't mean they can't breed the dog - just that they cannot register the offspring with the KC.

On the return of pups issue though - thats a different matter. Once you enter into a contract of sale with someone and you exchange money for goods, the buyer owns the goods and can do what they like with them - in those circumstances, a document insisting that the goods be returned rather than sold on is not (unfortunately in this case) deemed 'reasonable'.

Wouldn't stop me putting that in though - and some rescue centres I believe HAVE forced people to return a dog according to the contract signed (but they dont 'sell' dogs, you 'adopt' one for a fixed, non-negotiable 'donation' (ie, you buy it for a price!) but its very dodgy ground  indeed as far as what the outcome would be if you tried to enforce it.                    

This is interesting,i dont want to put my question on a liove forum incase it encorages othersto do this.....who can i pm for a question re breeding from a bitch/dog you bought and registering offspring WITH endorsments??

May not know the answer but you can PM me and if I can I will answer your question.

'when speaking face to face I TELL all buyers I will take a pup back at any time during its life'

This in itself is a binding contract, you do not have to have it in writing, be very careful what you say and maybe do not mean or change you mind.

A friend has had a contract drawn up by a solicitor, he told her that is it very important to state that the endorsements are on for the full life of the pup, no matter how many owners it may be passed to

Sad to have to tell you, if the health tests are in place and with in the breed averages, the KC will lift the endorsments, and I know this is the case, as I know people who have had it done to them

They will only do so if the correct procedure is not followed - if you have actual proof that this was not done in spite of the correct procedure being followed you have better let us know the details, hearsay is not very helpful.

Oh and as far as I know it has nothing to do with health tests.

To enlarge on my above post, say the breeder put on an endorsement and said that if the health tests were done then the endorsement would be lifted. The tests are done but the breeder refuses to lift the endorsement, an appeal is made to the KC and the endorsement would be lifted because the breeder had not stuck to contract.

This may not be what happened but when we have a reply with the details we will then know what happened because the KC does not lift the endorsement for no reason although of course not everyone will give you the full story.