I have built in a section on media/advertising to the proposal. It would be possible for a publication to do a check against a database a bit like how a person can do a credit check or indeed check whether a garage has a valid MOT testing licence etc.

In terms of individuals who wish to re-home their dog. In most cases, they would place the dog in the care of a rescue home who would have their own supplier licence. If the person themselves decided they wished to find a new home for the dog privately - if they wanted to advertise the dog for sale, they would need a supplier level licence. I think it has to be black and white otherwise puppy dealers would use it as a loophole to get round the law. Alternatively, if they 'supply' the dog to someone privately without advertising it for sale, providing they supply it to someone who does have an ownership licence, no offence would be committed.

If a media outlet didn't check the validty of a supplier's licence to advertise the sale of dogs, then they would technically be accepting unlawful advertising. So what I see happening here is that all media who accept ads for dogs would pass the obligation onto the advertiser via their terms and conditions. I think this is a good thing as well. So if an advertiser tries to mislead a media organisation by attempting to advertise dogs for sale when they are not legally entitled to, action could be taken directly by the media organisation who could pass this information onto the relevant authorities. I see this as a great way, again, to flush out the 'dealers'.

I know if I came to your site and wanted to advertise my puppies for sale and I didn't have a licence but knew you had the power to cross reference me, I'd be taking quite a large risk!!