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To report suspected illegal or low-welfare breeding or selling of dogs, cats or rabbits in the UK, use the animal crime report form run by Naturewatch Foundation. If an animal is being harmed or neglected now, do not use that form. Contact the animal-welfare service for your nation instead: the RSPCA in England and Wales, the SSPCA in Scotland, or NI Direct in Northern Ireland. Naturewatch passes viable information to enforcement authorities, but it does not promise that every report will be investigated or lead to action.
Choose the right route first
Naturewatch separates two situations, and the route you pick depends on urgency and purpose. A report to Naturewatch is intelligence about suspected illegal or low-welfare breeding or selling. It is not a call-out for an animal in immediate trouble.
| Your concern | Where to go | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Suspected illegal breeding or selling, an online advert that worries you, or a seller whose animals appear to come from a low-welfare operation | Naturewatch Foundation’s animal crime report form, or its Hotline 4 Pets telephone line | Information for Naturewatch’s investigations team, which assesses it and may pass viable reports to enforcement authorities |
| An animal being hurt, neglected or left in immediate danger | RSPCA (England and Wales), SSPCA (Scotland), or NI Direct (Northern Ireland) | An urgent welfare response |
Naturewatch’s guidance also points people who believe someone is involved in illegal or low-welfare dog breeding or selling to its telephone line. In its words: “If you believe someone is involved in illegal or low-welfare dog breeding or selling, you can also report it to our Hotline 4 Pets (which covers cat and rabbit breeding too).” The form is the written route; the hotline is the spoken one, and the form offers an anonymous telephone option as well.
How to make a report
- Decide whether the concern is urgent. If an animal needs help today, contact the welfare service for your nation first and report to Naturewatch afterwards if the matter is also about breeding or selling.
- Gather what you can see or already hold, without putting yourself at risk. Do not confront a seller, enter private property or film people in a way that could make you unsafe.
- Open the “Animal Crime Report” form on Naturewatch Foundation’s website. Its reporting guidance describes the form as the route for suspected illegal or low-welfare breeding or selling of dogs, cats and rabbits.
- Describe what you observed and separate it from what you suspect. For example, “the advert lists four puppies available today, and the seller would not show the mother” is more useful than “this is a puppy farm.”
- Add your contact details if you are willing. The form says the team may need them to ask for clarification. Naturewatch says personal information is held securely under its investigations privacy policy. If you prefer not to give details, use the anonymous telephone option instead.
- Note the date, time and what you sent, so you can refer back to it if the organisation contacts you.
Naturewatch states that its form is assessed Monday to Thursday, 8am to 6pm. Hours and contact details can change, so check the live form on its website before you rely on them.
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What to include in your report
Naturewatch’s guidance lists the information that helps most. Include whatever you can safely gather:
- Dates, times and locations of what you saw or were told
- Names or physical descriptions of the people involved
- What you witnessed and why it raised concern
- Car registration numbers or vehicle descriptions
- Photographs, but only if you can take them safely
- Screenshots of adverts and links to websites or social media pages, which often disappear once a listing is removed
- Receipts, contracts or other paperwork if you have bought an animal
Photographs taken from a distance and screenshots saved to your phone are usually the easiest evidence to keep. If you have already bought an animal and feel misled, keep every message and document from the sale, because the paperwork may be the most useful part of your report.
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What is and is not illegal
Many people worry that any large-scale breeder must be breaking the law. Naturewatch’s guidance does not say that. It states that large-scale commercial breeding is not in itself illegal, but that failing to meet the applicable breeding and animal-welfare standards may be unlawful. That distinction matters for how you write a report. Describe what you observed and what made you suspicious. Do not present an allegation as proven fact, and do not assume that a poor-looking kennel means an offence has been committed.
Naturewatch’s dog-focused campaign has since been widened, under its “It’s Not Just Dogs!” campaign, to cover cats and rabbits bred for profit. Its reporting route therefore applies to all three species.
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Breeding and selling rules differ across the UK
The reporting route is UK-wide, but the rules on licensing and sale are not. One clear example comes from the UK Government’s Pet Theft Taskforce report, published in 2021: since 6 April 2020, commercial pet sellers in England have been prevented from selling puppies and kittens they did not breed themselves under the English licensing regulations. That is an England-specific rule. The same report does not establish the position in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, and this article does not set out licensing rules for those nations. For the rules that apply where you live, check current official guidance and your local authority before drawing a conclusion about a seller.
What happens after you report
Naturewatch says it applies confidentiality protocols and assesses the information it receives. Where appropriate, its staff format the information for enforcement personnel. Viable information may be sent to law-enforcement agencies for further investigation, intelligence gathering or enforcement action. Information that cannot be investigated may still inform its campaigning work. The stages below are different, and a report moves through them only if the evidence supports it:
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| Stage | What it means | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Suspicion | You have a concern, which may or may not be accurate | You |
| Report | You send observations and evidence to Naturewatch | You |
| Assessment | Naturewatch’s investigations team judges whether the information is viable | Naturewatch |
| Referral | Viable information is passed to relevant enforcement authorities | Naturewatch, then the authority |
| Investigation or action | The authority decides whether to investigate and what action to take | The enforcement authority |
| Proven offence | A court or the relevant process establishes that an offence has been committed | The courts or the relevant process |
Submitting a report does not by itself start a formal investigation, and it does not guarantee an outcome. Naturewatch’s role ends at assessment and referral. The enforcement authority controls what happens next.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Naturewatch’s figures show
Naturewatch’s 2025 annual review, Advocating for dogs, cats and rabbits across the UK, which was published in 2026, gives two figures that are useful context. Both come from the charity itself, not from an independently audited national count.
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- 122 reports of alleged illegal breeding and selling were submitted to local authorities in 2025. Naturewatch says these followed tip-offs to Hotline 4 Pets.
- Four in five UK dogs still come from unknown sources. Naturewatch attributes this to its Licensed Dog Breeding in the UK and Ireland 2025 research, which drew on information from nearly 400 local authorities. The charity says the fuller findings will be published in 2026. “Unknown source” describes dogs whose origin is not documented. It is not a measured count of illegal breeding.
Taken together, these figures show the scale of reporting and the gaps in traceability that Naturewatch is trying to address. They do not show how many individual sellers were prosecuted or how many of the 122 reports led to action.
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