Business Advice for: Dog Breeders

Providing information to consumers

Companies Act 2006

The Companies Act 2006, lays down what and how information about your business should be disclosed to consumers.

Limited companies

If your business is a limited company, the following information must be included on all invoices, contracts, letter headed paperwork and websites:

• Limited Company Name;

• Address of Registered Office;

• Company Number;

• The place of Company Registration, i.e. England and Wales;

• Contact telephone number;

• E-mail address;

• Registered VAT number (if applicable);

• Clear prices (on website).

Sole traders and partnerships

Where a sole trader or partnership carries on a business under a name that is not that of the proprietor or partners their details must be fully disclosed to consumers and suppliers in order to make it clear who they are doing business with. 

The information that is required to be disclosed is:

• The full name of the proprietor or all of the partners, and

• An address at which the business can be contacted and have legal documents formally served on it

The required information must be:

• Displayed in a prominent position in all business premises where customers and suppliers have access;

• Given immediately in writing to any customer or supplier who requests business details information;

• Included legibly on all business documents: letters; written orders for goods or services; invoices, receipts and contracts; written demands for payment; business websites (a requirement under the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002).

Selling dogs away from your business premises

Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

Off premises contracts

If you agree a contract in a consumer’s home or away from your business premises you must provide a cancellation notice. It is a criminal offence not to supply a cancellation notice in this situation.

A cancellation notice period is 14 days and can be provided either by e-mail or paper copy. The 14 days begin the day after the day on which the dog comes into the physical possession of the consumer.

It is important to note that if you do not provide the cancellation notice when agreeing a contract in a consumer’s home, as well as it being a criminal offence, the contract could be unenforceable; meaning the consumer may not have to pay.

Distance contracts

You must also provide a 14 day cancellation notice if you negotiate and agree a contract (sale) with a consumer via an “organised” means of distance communication, e.g. by phone, post or online. This provision may apply when you take a deposit via the telephone or e-mail for a puppy advertised on your web site, even if the balance is paid face-to-face. However, the contract must involve an organised scheme for selling dogs. A “one off” sale of a puppy via the telephone does not constitute an organised scheme for selling dogs. 

The cancellation notice

Where a cancellation notice is required, it must be provided in the prescribed format, and you may want to provide a model cancellation form. However, the customer is not obliged to use the cancellation form you provide, but must cancel in writing, either by posting, hand delivering or emailing their intention to cancel. 

Your obligations to the consumer (contractual)

The Consumer Rights Act 2015

Consumers are entitled, by law, to expect that dogs they buy from you conform to the contract. This means that the dogs you sell should be:

• of satisfactory quality, i.e. generally healthy;

• fit for their intended purpose (and any purpose you told a customer they were suitable for, e.g. breeding, showing);

• as described, e.g. Cocker Spaniel, Kennel Club Registered, “raised in family home”.

Are consumers entitled to a refund, repair or replacement?

Yes, if the dogs do not conform to the contract, then consumers have the legal right to one of the following 'remedies':

• a full or part refund;

• a replacement or repair e.g. new puppy, vet fees, etc.;

• a price reduction;

• compensation for losses incurred, e.g. vet fees.

The remedy that you are required to give depends on the circumstances of each sale e.g., how long the consumer has owned the dog prior to the problem being identified. 

However, consumers do not have the legal right to any remedy for problems they knew about before they bought the dog, e.g. a genetic health defect specifically brought to the attention of the consumer prior to purchase. 

Time for action

The law sets a time limit for consumers to take legal action. In England and Wales this time limit is generally six years from sale or delivery. 

The short-term right to reject

If, when it is supplied, a dog is not as described, not of satisfactory quality or fit for purpose, there is a short period during which the consumer is entitled to reject it. This short-term right to reject dogs lasts for 30 days, which begins when the customer takes possession/delivery of the dog.

When a consumer rejects a dog he/she can claim a refund, and must return the dog. A refund must be given without undue delay and in any event within 14 days of the seller agreeing that the consumer is entitled to a refund. 

Repair or replacement 

When there is a breach of contract, but the consumer has lost or chooses not to exercise his/her right to reject the dog, he/she will be entitled, in the first instance, to claim damages (e.g. entitlement to vet costs) or a replacement.

Where damages or a replacement is claimed, the seller must do this at no cost to the consumer, within a reasonable time and without causing significant inconvenience. If damages or replacement is not available or is unsuccessful, or is not provided within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, then he/she can claim a price reduction or reject the dog.

A price reduction must be an appropriate amount, which will depend on all the circumstances of the claim.It can be any amount up to the whole price.

If the consumer rejects the dog, they are entitled to a refund. This refund may be reduced to take account of any use the consumer has had from the dog.

Note: that when a dog is rejected within six months of supply, in most cases, the consumer is entitled to a full refund. 

The burden of proof 

If the consumer chooses damages, replacement, price reduction or the final right to reject, and if the defect is discovered within six months of delivery, it is assumed that the fault was there at the time of delivery unless the trader can prove otherwise. If more than six months have passed, the consumer has to prove the defect was there at the time of delivery.

They must also prove the defect was there at the time of delivery if they exercise the short-term right to reject goods.

Unfair contract terms  

Examples of potentially unfair contract terms:

• Terms excluding liability for breaches of contract, e.g. “No guarantee is given as to the age/health of any puppy”.

• Excessive charges and disproportionate sanctions, e.g. “In the event of the purchaser cancelling the contract, or failing to take delivery of the puppy, the full deposit 50% paid will be forfeited to the seller”.

Your obligations to the consumer (Statutory)

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (known as the CPRs) control unfair practices used by traders when dealing with consumers, and create criminal offences for traders that breach them. This legislation has replaced the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. 

What is prohibited?

Effectively the CPRs prohibit trading practices that are unfair to consumers. There are four different types of practices to consider:

• practices prohibited in all circumstances;

• misleading actions and omissions;

• aggressive practices;

• general duty not to trade unfairly.

Practices prohibited in all circumstances

These include:

• False endorsements / authorizations: false claims of membership of trade associations/signatory of a code of conduct, e.g. Kennel Club Accreditation.

• Misleading context / effect: failing to make it clear that a person is actually a breeder/trader or creating the impression they are a consumer. E.g. failing to indicate trade status when selling a puppy; creating the impression that a dog can legally be sold when in fact it cannot, e.g. a dangerous dog. 

Misleading actions & omissions 

The CPRs prohibit 'misleading actions' and 'misleading omissions' that cause, or are likely to cause, the average consumer to take a different transactional decision; that is, any decision taken by the consumer concerning the purchasing of the dog or whether to exercise a contractual right in relation to the dog, including decisions not to act. This does not only relate to pre-shopping but includes after-sales and continues for the lifetime of the dog.

Misleading actions 

Regulation 5 of the CPRs prohibits giving false information to, or deceiving consumers. A misleading action occurs when a practice misleads through the information it contains or its deceptive presentation and causes, or is likely to cause, the average consumer to take a different transactional decision.

There are many examples of misleading actions:

• misleading information generally, advertising a puppy as K.C. registered when it’s not;

• pictorially misrepresenting how a puppy has been reared, giving the impression that the puppy has been reared in a domestic environment, when in fact it has been reared in kennels;

• failing to honour commitments made in a code of conduct, e.g. Kennel Club;

• Providing false information regarding the nature, attributes and rights of the trader, e.g. qualifications.

Misleading omissions

Regulation 6 of the CPRs prohibits giving insufficient information about a product/dog. It is a breach of the CPRs to fail to give consumers the information they need to make an informed choice in relation to a product if this would cause, or be likely to cause, the average consumer to take a different transactional decision. E.g. a dog breeder must provide information regarding any corrective surgery/treatment for hernia etc. 

Aggressive practices

Regulation 7 of the CPRs prohibits aggressive commercial practices that intimidate or exploit consumers, restricting their ability to make free or informed choices. In order for an aggressive practice to be unfair it must cause, or be likely to cause, the average consumer to take a different transactional decision.

A commercial practice is aggressive if it:

• significantly impairs, or is likely to significantly impair, the average consumer's freedom of choice or conduct in relation to the product through the use of harassment, coercion or undue influence; and

• thereby causes them to take a different transactional decision.

Note: 'coercion' includes the use of physical force, and 'undue influence' means exploiting a position of power in relation to the consumer so as to apply pressure - even without the use of (or threatening to use) physical force - in a way that significantly limits the consumer's ability to make an informed decision. E.g. insisting that a consumer purchases dog food/pet insurance with the puppy or advising consumers that they need to make a decision there and then as another customer is coming to view the puppy.

General duty not to trade unfairly 

Regulation 3 is called "Prohibition of unfair commercial practices", which effectively means failing to act in accordance with reasonable expectations of acceptable trading practice.

The regulation prohibits practices that:

• contravene the requirements of professional diligence (defined as the standard of special skill and care that a trader may reasonably be expected to exercise towards consumers, which is commensurate with either honest market practice in the trader's field of activity or the general principle of good faith in the trader's field of activity).

• materially distort the economic behavior of the average consumer (or are likely to) with regard to the product - that is, appreciably to impair the average consumer's ability to make an informed decision, thereby causing them to take a transactional decision that they would not have taken otherwise.

For example, selling a Border Collie/Springer Spaniel to a consumer in the knowledge that he/she lives in a small flat. 

Misleading other businesses

Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 

To mislead another trader via an advert regarding the characteristics (nature) of a dog can constitute a criminal offence. An advert is defined within the legislation as any form of representation which is made in connection with a trade or business in order to promote the supply of a product. E.g. falsely describing a puppy on an invoice to a pet shop. 

Please note: This article is not an authoritative interpretation of the law and is intended only as a brief guide. Any legislation referred to, may have been amended from the form in which it was originally enacted.