Animal licences

An animal activity licence is required if your business involves any of the following activities:

• dog breeding
• selling pets
• hiring out horses
• boarding for dogs and cats
• home boarding for dogs
• dog day care
• keeping or training animals for exhibition

Dog walking and dog grooming do not require a licence.

For further advice or to check if you need a licence, contact us using the details at the bottom of this page.

Licence conditions

There are strict conditions applied nationally for all businesses providing animal-related services. These are to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the animals.

For detailed DEFRA guidance and licence conditions for each animal activity visit Animal activities licensing: statutory guidance for local authorities – GOV.UK.

Apply for an animal activity license

To apply for an animal activity licence you will need to print out and complete the forms below and return to us using the details at the bottom of this page.

• Animal boarding application form (.doc, 812kb)
• Performing animals application form (.doc, 818kb)
• Breeding and sale of dogs application form (.doc, 815kb)
• Pet sales application form (.doc, 838kb)
• Dog day care application form (.doc, 812kb)
• Riding establishments application form (.doc, 838kb)
• Additional horse sheets application form (.doc, 21kb)
• Home boarding application form (.doc, 836kb)

Licence fees

We charge a fee for processing applications. Payment must be made using our online payment portal.

You will need to renew your licence and pay this fee again each year apart from for performing animals, which renews every three years.

Star rating system

When we have received your application, we will assess your business and apply a risk-rating to it. We will then award stars based on your compliance with the licence conditions.

Low-risk premises can attain up to 5 stars. Premises that have been assessed as higher risk can be awarded up to 4 stars. 

If you are not happy with our rating, you can make improvements to address any highlighted issues and ask for a re-inspection.

New businesses will be assessed as higher-risk simply because there is no history of good practice that can be considered.