Just a Dog Podcast · Episode 39 · October 5, 2026 · 1 hr 6 min

Dog Whelping UK | Inside the unregulated world of dog whelping and canine fertility clinics | Part 1

Nothing in this episode is advice. If your dog is pregnant, speak to your vet. Stan Airey says he has been helping dogs give birth for over 50 years. He is not a vet and has no formal qualification, and even if he wanted one, it doesn't exist because professional whelping is not a recognised profession in the UK. And yet there are over 400 known canine fertility clinics in the UK, some of which also offer whelping services. Most of these clinics are not registered as veterinary practices. Anyone can do this job. Some clinics and independent contractors even offer caesareans and artificial insemination, both of which are classed as acts of veterinary surgery and are illegal for any layman to perform. Yet they do. Part 1 of my conversation with Stan, who runs the whelping and fertility service, Call the Midwoof, is out now. This episode is important because this is a new industry that needs regulation. Anyone can decide from one day to the next to start a business like this with no veterinary oversight, no qualifications, no standards to uphold and no one to answer to. And Stan agrees. In this episode, Stan shares some of the puppy births he has attended, he tells stories about the people who hire him, and he describes in detail the side of breeding he calls "horrendous". Want to add to the conversation? Leave a voice note here and your comments could be included in a future episode: https://lnkd.in/eUt53tEn