Section 16 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 legally restricts procedures which interefere with sensitive tissue or bone structure of an animal unless they are carried out for the purposes of veterinary treatment or are specified in regulations made by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Canine transvaginal artificial insemination (also known as intra-vaginal) insemination is a procedure where fresh or chilled semen is inserted into the bitch’s vagina using an insemination pipette. As the procedure involves interference with sensitive tissue, it is an act of veterinary medicine which should only be undertaken by a veterinary practitioner or veterinary nurse under the direction of a veterinary practitioner. As there is no specific exemption in legislation allowing lay people to undertake this procedure, they are currently legally prohibited from doing so regardless of training or qualifications.