Animal licensing

New legislation takes effect from 1 October 2018 reforming animal welfare licensing including the sale of animals, breeding dogs, hiring horses, boarding cats, boarding dogs, home boarding dogs, dog day care and keeping or training animals for performance.  A FAQ document is available to help answer some questions.

Businesses operating under current licences will be able to continue to do so until the expiry date of their licence. The definition of existing licensable activities has been amended, additionally new activities have been added. A single licence known as an 'animal activity licence', with nationally set licence conditions will apply.

Businesses must be given a star rating, ranging from one to five which must be listed on the licence. Safeguards including an appeal procedure and a mechanism for requesting a reinspection when improvements have been made will apply. The star rating determines the length of the licence from one to three years (except keeping/training animals for exhibition which must be granted for three years). The cost is the same regardless of the licence length, rewarding compliant businesses and driving up standards in the sector.  A premises with a lower star rating is not necessarily a premises to avoid as there are other factors that have to be considered, such as the length of time the licence holder has been operating. New businesses are likely to be assessed as slightly higher risk simply because there is no history of good practice that can be considered.

Last updated Monday, 1st October 2018

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