Dog Breeding Establishments (DBEs)

According to The Dog Breeding Establishments Act, 2010, any property with six or more female dogs that are capable of breeding is considered a dog breeding establishment.

These are sellers who have the following:

6 or more breeding bitches on their propery
Are licenced and inspected by their local county councils, to retain their license

DBEs are required to retain records about breeding, adhere to the Dog Breeding Establishment Guidelines. This document outlines minimum staff to dog ratios, frequency of breeding, size of kennels, socalisation plans, sanitation guidelines, etc.

DBE Licence fee schedule

How much does a DBE licence cost? The DBE license fee depends on the size of the operation:

6-18 breeding bitches : €400
19-30 breeding bitches : €800
31-100 breeding bitches : €1,600
101-200 breeding bitches : €3,000
200+ breeding bitches: €3,000 + €1,600 for every 100 bitches in excess of 200

Note: Just because a DBE may have a licence for a certain amount of breeding dogs, doesn't automatically mean they have that many dogs. The license indicates the maximum, which is based on housing sizes, staffing and other criterion.

These selllers are required to include their license number in their ads (both online or offline). On dogs.ie we also include the maximum number of breeding bitches in their ads so buyers can guage the size of the DBE. Should you require more information about registering as a DBE we recommend you contact your local county council for more information.

The Dog Breeding Establishments Act, 2010

Here is a link to to the specific act : https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2010/act/29/enacted/en/print.

To apply to be a DBE

The best place to start is to contact your local council, generally they will have a dog warden or inspector that can advise you on how best to do things and how to apply. More information can be found here with links to the 31 local authorities around Ireland [link].

Registered Seller of Pets - Ireland

In the case that a breeder has less than 6 female dogs of breeding age^† on their premises and sells 6 or more dogs in a year, they are required to register with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) as Registered Seller of Pets.

Note: ^† - breeding age is defined as any female dog over 6 months of age and is not spayed.