New Animal Licensing Legislation
Changes to the Animal Licensing Laws
The Government has now published updated legislation for animal businesses and confirmed that these changes will take effect from 1 October 2018. Under the new laws, animal boarding businesses including home boarders and day carers, dog breeders, pet shops and riding establishments will be covered under a single type of licence from that date. It will be known as an ‘Animal Activity Licence’, with new nationally-set licence conditions for businesses providing animal-related services. (Activities such as pet sitting, pet grooming and dog walking are not covered by the new regulations).
We cannot change these licence conditions as they are already set in the legislation. Businesses operating with these activities will need to comply with the new conditions, and will be assessed before the licence is granted to make sure they can meet them.
In addition to the new conditions, a risk-rating star system will be introduced for businesses, and local authorities will determine the star rating of a business based on welfare standards found during an inspection and on whether that business is deemed low or high risk. Businesses deemed low risk and meeting higher welfare standards will access the highest star ratings, which in turn is likely to lead to longer intervals between inspections and potentially lower fees.
Those businesses operating under current licences will be able to continue to do so until the expiry date of their licence. All applications to renew licences will be under the new legislation.
To download the new licence conditions for each of the animal activities covered please click on the links below:
DEFRA Guidance notes for conditions for breeding dogs
DEFRA Guidance notes for conditions for hiring out horses
DEFRA Guidance notes for conditions for keeping or training animals for exhibition
DEFRA Guidance notes for conditions for providing boarding for cats
DEFRA Guidance notes for conditions for providing boarding in kennels for dogs
DEFRA Guidance notes for conditions for providing day care for dogs
DEFRA Guidance notes for conditions for providing home boarding for dogs
DEFRA Guidance notes for conditions for selling animals as pets
This webpage will be updated once the authority has set the fees and an application form has been approved.
Should you require further information regarding these new regulations, please contact the Environmental Protection Team on 01254 388111.