I'll say it again - regulation of breeders IS coming in Wales from May. I was at (yet another) meeting last week with Welsh Govt officials - Wales has a road map for dog welfare which started with banning shock collars, will be having compulsory chipping, dog breeding regs and the latest thing - Control of Dogs looking at dog behaviour and training. For the last three of these, I've been very closely involved with the preliminary work - the grind of meetings, working parties etc (all done on a voluntary basis by rescue volunteers). Funnily enough, breeders were nowhere to be seen, except for the dog breeding regs, when they mounted a furious campaign to water down the very modest set of proposals that the Welsh Government initially proposed. Remember that - it's "hobby breeders" and the KC who oppose the sort of regulation that governs idiot BYBs and large scale puppy farmers.
And rescues already do plenty. For anyone who is thinking about dog ownership, there are masses of sources of information especially these days with the internet. Every rescue I know has at least a website, a Facebook page, most have Twitter. The Dogs Trust have a whole social media department because they know how important it is. Dogs Trust and RSPCA do TV ads. I regularly hear Clarissa from DT on national media e.g. R4. Rescues do education work, the Retired Greyhound Trust take out full page ads in the Daily Telegraph FFS. Magazines like Dogs Today promote rescue dogs every month. All the time, all over the country, small rescues run events, meet n greets, dog shows, walks, picnics, talks to groups, visits to Brownies and a multitude of other events/activities.
Of course there is always more to do but most rescues are run on a shoestring by committed volunteers who are also busy caring for the dogs they look after.
And like Dooin, I am also sceptical of the "we can't find anything that isn't a staffie" claims. Virtually every breed has its own rescue, and again the wonders of the internet mean that if, say, you wanted a cocker you could register with CAESSR very easily after two mouse clicks.