Terms and conditions

Registered owner:

This website is owned and maintained by:
The Royal Kennel Club Limited
Registered in England and Wales
Registration number 8217778

Registered office:

10 Clarges Street
Piccadilly
London
W1J 8AB
United Kingdom

Registrations Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions set out:

  • your legal rights and responsibilities;
  • our legal rights and responsibilities; and
  • certain key information required by law.

In these Terms & Conditions:

  • ‘We’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ means the Kennel Club; and
  • ‘You’ or ‘your’ means the person using our site to buy services from us.
  • If you want to contact us please see our help centre.
Are you a business or a consumer?

You may have different rights depending on whether you are a business or a consumer. You are a consumer if:

  • You are an individual.
  • You are buying services from us wholly or mainly for your personal use (not for use in connection with your trade, business, craft or profession).
Who are we?

We are the Kennel Club Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under company number: 8217778. Our registered office is at: 10 Clarges Street, Piccadilly, London, W1J 8AB. Our VAT number is: 239096833.

1. Introduction
1.1 The purchase of services are subject to these Terms & Conditions and to Kennel Club Rules and Regulations as applicable. Any person applying for any form of registration is deemed to be and remains bound by Kennel Club Rules and Regulations as amended from time to time.
2. Information we give you
2.1. The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 require that we must give you certain key information. This information will be provided within the online registration process or in the acknowledgement email.
3. Your privacy and personal information

3.1. Our Privacy Policy.
3.2. Your privacy and personal information are important to us. Any personal information that you provide to us will be dealt with in line with our Privacy Policy, which explains what personal information we collect from you, how and why we collect, store, use and share such information, your rights in relation to your personal information and how to contact us and supervisory authorities if you have a query or complaint about the use of your personal information.

4. Ordering services from us
4.1. Please read and check your order carefully in order to correct any errors you can do so before submitting it to us.
4.2. When you place your order at the end of the online process, we will acknowledge it by email. This acknowledgement does not, however, mean that your order has been accepted.
4.3. We may contact you to say that we do not accept your order. This is typically for the following reasons:
4.3.1. we cannot carry out the services;
4.3.2. we cannot authorise your payment;
4.3.3. you are not allowed to buy the services from us;
4.3.4. we are not allowed to sell the services to you; or
4.3.5. there has been a mistake in the application for services.

4.4. Please check the respective age limits for the appropriate services as set out on the relevant webpages for such services.

5. Right to cancel (consumer)
5.1. You have the right to cancel your order within 14 days without giving any reason. However, you do not have the right to cancel if we have started to provide the services during the cancellation period and the services are fully performed (i.e. the work is completed) during this period.

5.2. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or email) using the contact details at the top of these Terms.

5.3. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.

6. Effects of cancellation
6.1. If you cancel, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you unless you requested for us to start providing the services during the cancellation period, in which case you must pay us the full price, if you lost your right to cancel because the services were fully performed (i.e. the work was completed) during the cancellation period.

6.2. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel.

6.3. We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.

7. Carrying out of the services
7.1. We will carry out the services by the time or within the period set out during the online process and in the Confirmation Email, and otherwise this will be within a reasonable time.

7.2. Our carrying out of the services might be affected by events beyond our reasonable control. If so, there might be a delay before we can restart the services, having made reasonable efforts to limit the effect of any of those events and having kept you informed of the circumstances, but we will try to restart the services as soon as those events have been fixed.

8. Payment
8.1. We accept payment by credit cards and/or debit cards. We do not accept cash.

8.2. We will do all that we reasonably can to ensure that all of the information you give us when paying for the services is secure by using an encrypted secure payment mechanism. However, in the absence of negligence on our part, any failure by us to comply with these Terms & Conditions or breach by us of our duties under applicable laws, we will not be responsible to you for any loss that you may suffer if a third party gains unauthorised access to any information that you give us.

8.3. The price of the services:
8.3.1. is in pounds sterling (£) (GBP);
8.3.2. includes VAT at the applicable rate;
9. Nature of the services

9.1. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you certain legal rights (also known as ‘statutory rights’). Nothing in these Terms & Conditions affects your legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (also known as ‘statutory rights’). You may also have other rights in law.

10. Limit on our responsibility to you

10.1. Except for any legal responsibility that we cannot exclude in law (such as for death or personal injury) or arising under applicable laws relating to the protection of your personal information, we are not legally responsible for any:

10.1.1. direct or indirect losses that:
10.1.1.1. were not foreseeable to you and us;
10.1.1.2. were not caused by any breach on our part;
10.1.2. business losses and losses to non-consumers.
11. Disputes

11.1. We will try to resolve any disputes with you quickly and efficiently.

11.2. If you are unhappy with:
11.2.1. the services;
11.2.2. our service to you generally; or
11.2.3. any other matter,
please contact us as soon as possible via our help centre.

11.3. The laws of England and Wales will apply to these Terms & Conditions.
Important information regarding Kennel Club registrations
The acceptance of a registration is not a guarantee of its accuracy. Please read the information below carefully, which provides explanation.

Kennel Club registration effectively acts as a births (of dogs) register and records parentage and ancestry and relevant health information.

Registration provides access to the health information which aids and assist breeders in their choices of breeding stock.

Kennel Club registration also enables access to canine competition at Kennel Club licenced events

Kennel Club Regulations require that registration of a dog on the Full Breed Register must be from parentage (Dam and Sire) who are already entered on the register and of the same breed.

If doubt is shown as to parentage/breed then Kennel Club regulations further provide the possibility to verify the registration by DNA profiling of the parent and puppies.

In all cases the information supplied to the Kennel Club to support a registration constitutes a representation by a breeder both to the Kennel Club and ultimate puppy buyers of the veracity of the information supplied.

Kennel Club registration is voluntary and the system is reliant upon the integrity and accuracy of the data supplied by the breeder when registering a litter. If a mis-registration and inaccurate information is brought to our attention then we will rectify that registration with the correct data if known, restore or cancel if appropriate. Disciplinary proceedings and risk of lengthy disqualification from future use of the registration facility where there is deliberate manipulation of the Kennel Club registration database or a DNA Directive may be imposed to the effect that future registrations would be required to be verified before acceptance.
Important note on Kennel Club regulations and restrictions from registration
Restrictions and thresholds apply to Kennel Club registrations as governed by The Kennel Club B Regulations

In addition, The Kennel Club will only accept certain colours in breeds for registration in accordance with a list for prescribed breeds as amended from time to time. The breed standard and non-breed standard colours for each breed can be found in our Breed A-Z.

A breeder should not misdescribe the colour of a puppy for registration. If it is later determined that the dog has been mis-registered due to colour, The Kennel Club reserves the right to cancel the registration, and any other associated registrations.

Merle:
The Kennel Club does accept merle colouring in some breeds as outlined above. The registration of merle French Bulldogs has not been permitted since 2013. We have taken this stance as the effects of the merle allele (M) are not confined to coat patterning and it is known that there can be an increased risk of impaired hearing and sight associated with it, particularly in dogs that are homozygous for M (dogs that carry two copies of the M allele). You can find out more on our website about what the colour merle means and why we do not register this colour. 

Merle to merle matings:
The Kennel Club will not accept litters for registrations that are the result of merle to merle mating as this carries increased risk of health issues and impact on the health and welfare of puppies. It is not advisable to knowingly carry out merle to merle mating – if there is an accidental mating then veterinary advice should be sought on potential health issues and onward care.

Under Regulation B.22.c The Kennel Club Board will not accept an application to register a litter when:
  1. The dam has already whelped four litters save in exceptional circumstances and only provided the application is made prior to the mating and with veterinary evidence as to the suitability of the bitch involved in the proposed whelping and permission has been received, or
  2. The dam has already reached the age of 8 years at the date of whelping save in exceptional circumstances and only provided application is made prior to the mating, and the proposed dam has previously whelped at least one other registered litter and permission has been received. Any such application must be supported by veterinary evidence as to the suitability of the bitch involved in the proposed whelping, or
  3. The dam was under one year old at the time of mating, or
  4. The offspring are the result of any mating between father and daughter, mother and son or brother and sister, save in exceptional circumstances or for scientifically proven welfare reasons and permission has been received, or
  5. The dam has already had two litters delivered by caesarean section, save for scientifically proven welfare reasons and this only provided the application is made prior to the mating
The Kennel Club Board reserves the right to refuse any application made under Regulation B 22c (1), (2), (4) and (5).

Website Terms & Conditions

Conditions of use

This page (together with the documents referred to on it) tells you the conditions of use on which you may make use of this website whether as a guest or a registered user.

By using the website, you indicate that you accept these conditions of use and that you agree to abide by them. If you do not agree to these conditions of use, please refrain from using the website.

Accessing the website

Access to the website is permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to withdraw or amend the service we provide on the website without notice (see below). We will not be liable if for any reason the website is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts or all of the website, to users who have registered with us.

If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these conditions of use.

When using the website, you must comply with the provisions of our acceptable use policy. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the website. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access the website through your internet connection are aware of these conditions of use, and that they comply with them.

Web browser policy

This website works best when using one of the following browsers:

Please be aware that our support for the above browsers is limited to the most recent and previous versions, except for Internet Explorer, which is limited to IE 11 only.

Reliance on information posted

All material posted on the website is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal veterinary or other professional advice on which reliance should be placed. Users are hereby placed under notice that they should take appropriate steps to verify such information. No user should act or refrain from acting on the information contained in the website without first verifying the information and as necessary obtaining legal and/or other professional advice.

Our liability

The Kennel Club makes no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the completeness and accuracy of the information contained on the website. To the extent permitted by law, The Kennel Club expressly excludes all conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity.

The Kennel Club expressly disclaims all liability and responsibility for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by any user arising from any reliance placed on materials posted on the website by any visitor to the website and by anyone who may be informed of any of their contents, or from the use or inability to use the website, whether directly or indirectly, resulting from inaccuracies, defects, errors, whether typographical or otherwise, omissions, out of date information or otherwise.

Direct, indirect or consequential loss and damage shall include but not be limited to loss of profits or contracts, loss of income or revenue, loss of business, loss of goodwill, and wasted expenditure or management time.

Nothing in these conditions of use shall exclude The Kennel Club's liability for death or personal injury resulting from its negligence, nor its liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, nor any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Changes to the website

We aim to update the website regularly, and may change the content at any time. If the need arises, we may suspend access to the website, or close it indefinitely.

Viruses, hacking and other offences

The user agrees that material downloaded or otherwise accessed through the use of the website is obtained entirely at the user's own risk and that the user will be entirely responsible for any resulting damage to software or computer systems and/or any resulting loss of data.

You must not misuse the website by knowingly introducing any spyware, computer viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the website, the server on which the website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the website.

Linking to the website

We encourage website owners to link to any information on our site, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. You must not establish a link from any website that is not owned by you. The website must not be framed on any other site. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. The website from which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our acceptable use policy. Please note we cannot guarantee that the information will always remain in the same place.

Third party websites

The Kennel Club does not accept any liability or responsibility for any third party websites that can be accessed through the website or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. The Kennel Club does not endorse or approve the contents of any such site and these links are provided for your information only.

Uploading material to the website

Whenever you make use of a feature that allows you to upload material to the website, or to make contact with other users of the website, you must comply with the content standards set out in our acceptable use policy. You warrant that any such contribution does comply with those standards, and you indemnify us for any breach of that warranty.

Any material you upload to the website will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we have the right to use, copy, distribute and disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose. We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any material posted or uploaded by you to the website constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

We will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials posted by you or any other user of the website.

We have the right to remove any material or posting you make on the website if, in our opinion, such material does not comply with the content standards set out in our acceptable use policy.

Find a Puppy

No representations are made nor shall The Kennel Club incur any liability from the user's reliance upon or from the inclusion in the Find a Puppy service.

The Kennel Club reserves the right to decline or remove an advert at its discretion and to suspend or close a breeder’s access to Find a Puppy for any reason but which will include where there is cause to believe that the breeder or proposed advert may undermine or compromise the Find a Puppy platform in any way.

General

We process information about you in accordance with our Privacy Notice. By using the website, you consent to such processing and you warrant that all data provided by you is accurate.

If any provision of these conditions of use or the notice of copyright (see below) is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of that provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions which shall remain in full force and effect.

The Kennel Club's omission to exercise any right under these conditions of use or the notice of copyright shall not constitute a waiver of any such right unless expressly accepted by The Kennel Club in writing.

These conditions of use and the notice of copyright and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales. 

The user and The Kennel Club agree to submit any dispute (including any non-contractual dispute) arising out of or in connection with the use of the website to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

We may revise these conditions of use at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we have made, as they are binding on you.

Notice of copyright/intellectual property rights

Except where expressly stated to the contrary, all intellectual property rights in the text, graphics, information, motifs, logos, designs and databases contained in this site including the domain names, organisation and layout of the site and the software used in relation to the site are owned by The Kennel Club or its licensors.

The Kennel Club owns a portfolio of registered and unregistered trade marks including but not limited to The Kennel Club. You may not use any trademarks, service marks and/or other trade names belonging to The Kennel Club from time to time, without The Kennel Club's prior written consent (including without limitation The Kennel Club's trademarks, all page headers, custom graphics and button icons on the site) including to imply endorsement by The Kennel Club of your website and/or goods and/or services or otherwise without our prior written consent. 

All other trademarks referred to on the site are the trademarks of their respective owners and you will require their specific authorisation should you wish to use any of the trademarks.

You are welcome to copy excerpts of our information for personal use and purposes of review, discussion, academic study and other legitimate pursuits. You do not need to seek permission for such fair use, although you should acknowledge the source.

However, all information on this site, all motifs, designs and logos are copyright © The Kennel Club, unless specifically stated otherwise. We will vigorously pursue any violation of our copyright that seeks to exploit our material for commercial gain or to misrepresent our regulatory stance.

You should not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way; and you do should not use any graphics, illustrations or photographs, separately from any accompanying text.

This permission may be revoked at any time by The Kennel Club. Material displayed on the site, in whole or in part, may not otherwise be copied, reproduced, republished or incorporated in any other work or publication, whether paper or electronic media or any other form, without The Kennel Club's prior written permission. 

You may not reproduce or store any part of this site in any other website, document management system or electronic retrieval system (via screen-scraping or otherwise) without The Kennel Club's prior written permission.

You must not use any part of the materials on this site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from The Kennel Club.

In particular you must not:

  • use this site and in particular any of The Kennel Club registers or databases as a source of material or contact data for any kind of marketing activity; or
  • use any information on this site and in particular from any of The Kennel Club registers or databases to create, update, amend or verify your own or someone else's databases, records, directories, customer lists, mailing or prospecting lists to provide any kind of commercial information service

If you print off, copy or download any part of this site in breach of these terms of use, your right to use this site will cease immediately and you must, at The Kennel Club's option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

The Kennel Club will vigorously pursue any violation of its intellectual property rights that seeks to exploit its material for commercial gain or to misrepresent its stance.

Any rights not expressly granted in this notice are reserved.

Acceptable use policy

This acceptable use policy sets out the terms between you and The Kennel Club under which you may access the website and your online dashboard (referred to in this acceptable use policy as the website).

This acceptable use policy applies to all users of, and visitors to, the website.

Your use of the website means that you accept, and agree to abide by, all the policies in this acceptable use policy, which supplement the conditions of use.

Prohibited uses

You may use the website only for lawful purposes. You may not use the website:

  • in any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation
  • in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect
  • for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way
  • to send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with our content standards  
  • to transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam); or
  • to knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware

You also agree:

  • not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of the website in contravention of the provisions of our conditions of use, or
  • not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt any part of the website, any equipment or network on which the website is stored, any software used in the provision of the website, or any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party
Interactive services

We may from time to time provide interactive services on the website, including, without limitation:

  • comment spaces and forums
  • public profiles
  • blogs, and
  • any other forms of user-generated content
Where we do provide any interactive service, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, if it is moderated and what form of moderation is used. Information about data gathered during any interactions is covered by our Privacy Notice.

We will do our best to assess any possible risks for users from third parties when they use any interactive service provided on the website, and we will decide in each case whether it is appropriate to use moderation of the relevant service (including what kind of moderation to use) in the light of those risks. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on the website, and we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our content standards, whether the service is moderated or not.

Content standards

These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to the website (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with them. You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.

Contributions must:

  • be accurate (where they state facts)
  • be genuinely held (where they state opinions)
  • comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted

Contributions must not:

  • contain any material which is defamatory of any person
  • contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory
  • promote sexually explicit material
  • promote violence
  • promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age
  • infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person
  • be likely to deceive any person
  • be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence
  • promote any illegal activity
  • be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety
  • be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person
  • be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person
  • give the impression that they emanate from The Kennel Club, if this is not the case
Suspension and termination

We will determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach of this acceptable use policy through your use of the website. When a breach of this policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate.

Failure to comply with this acceptable use policy constitutes a material breach of the conditions of use upon which you are permitted to use the website, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

  • immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use the website
  • immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to the website
  • issue of a warning to you
  • legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach
  • further legal action against you, or
  • disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary

We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy. The responses described in this policy are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

Changes to the acceptable use policy

We may revise this acceptable use policy at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we make, as they are legally binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in this acceptable use policy may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on the website.

Use of The Kennel Club logo

Further to the section above regarding notice of copyright/intellectual property rights, the usage of The Kennel Club logo is strictly controlled and must be used only on licence and with permission. For instance, Kennel Club Assured Breeders may do so upon terms and conditions.

Use of The Kennel Club logo without such permissions may result in further steps which may involve a suspension of Kennel Club activities, including use of Kennel Club registration facilities.

We also reserve our rights in respect of any trademark infringement.