Crufts has been plunged into crisis after a botched IT upgrade forced the Royal Kennel Club to lay off staff. 

The dodgy IT software caused the club to lose millions of pounds which will be plugged by making up to a fifth of its staff redundant as well as through slashing research into canine genetics and raising the fees for registering puppies. 

Aside from organising the annual Crufts Dog show - which attracts 155,000 visitors and is the biggest dog show in the world - the Kennel Club also holds onto a vast database of information on over 14m pedigree dogs across the UK. 

Last year, 227,000 puppies were registered at the club for a fee of £25 which allows owners to boast about the purity of their furry friend. 

However, the organisation has been left with its tail between its legs after attempts to upgrade the database have caused bugs and software failures. 

The Daily Telegraph reports that this has led to a loss of £1.2m in 2022 and further loss of £1.6m last year. 

On top of this, the changes have led to numerous complaints from owners and breeders who were also left angered by a decision to raise their puppy registration fee from £17 to £25 in 2022. 

Schemes such as the Assured Breeders scheme and funding for a a canine genetics centre at Cambridge University are also going to be shut down to try and claw back funding.   

Meanwhile, the club has also been embroiled in other controversies in recent year. Last year the Kennel Club was criticised for holding its 150th anniversary in the garden of Buckingham Palace where dogs are banned. 

And the recruitment of Mark Beazley as chief executive was a controversial choice due to his previous career at the cat welfare charity Cat Protection. 

Mr Beazley, who had previously worked at The Dogs Trust, is now on long-term sick leave. 

A spokesperson for the Kennel Club told MailOnline: 'We have been reviewing our strategy and have made some changes to how we work so that we, as a profit-for-purpose organisation, continue to achieve our mission of making a positive difference for dogs and their owners.

'These have been driven by the need to respond to far-reaching changes in how people breed and buy dogs, and new dog breeding legislation and scientific insights into dog health. As such, we have redirected generalised funding for the running of the Canine Genetics Centre and Assured Breeders scheme into new projects which enable us to achieve the best possible impact for dogs.

'This wide-ranging review has necessitated a new organisational structure and we have carried this out with care and consideration for our colleagues, giving opportunities to put forward new suggestions and to apply for the almost equal number of new roles that have been created.

'In addition to these changes, and despite challenging economic times caused primarily by static puppy registration prices over years of inflation – rather than by the IT upgrade which was carried out in 2020 – we have not compromised on our support for dog health, events and training, and last year invested more than £7 million in these areas.'