Animal health & welfare licensing

We license businesses that involve animals under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.

Activities that need a licence

You must have a licence if your business involves:

• boarding cats
• boarding dogs (kennels, home boarding, or day care)
• breeding dogs
• exhibiting animals
• hiring out horses
• selling animals as pets (pet shops)

Licences for dangerous wild animals and zoos are issued under separate laws and are not affected by these regulations.

View the Regulations
DEFRA Guidance
HBC Licence Register of Approved Businesses

Who can apply?

Any individual, who will be designated as the operator of the business, can apply for a licence providing they:

• are a fit and proper person to carry out the activity
• are not disqualified under Regulation 11 or Schedule 8

How to apply

To apply, you must:

• complete an application form
• pay a non-refundable application fee of £100
• submit supporting documents

Once your licence is approved, you’ll need to pay an issue fee based on the licence duration.

An inspector will visit your premises. We may also require a veterinary inspection — if so, you’ll be contacted directly by the vet to arrange a suitable time and invoiced for the cost.

Apply for Animal Boarding Licence
Apply for Dog Breeding Licence
Apply for Horse Hire Licence
Apply for Performing Animals Licence
Apply for Pet Shop Licence

Licence duration and star rating

Licences last:

• 1 or 2 years for new applicants
• 1, 2 or 3 years for existing licence holders

The length of licence will be determined by the star rating.  This takes into consideration the risk of an operator breaching any licence conditions and whether the operator is meeting higher standards of animal welfare than is required by the standard licence conditions.Licence holders will receive a written reminder prior to the expiry of their licence.

For each activity (except keeping or training animals for exhibition) a number of "higher standards" have been stipulated by DEFRA in its guidance for each activity. Meeting the higher standards is optional but is the only way to gain the highest star rating.

To get the highest star rating, you must meet:

• all required standards
• at least 50% of optional standards

You can request a re-inspection (for a fee) if you make improvements.

Star rating matrix

Planning permission

You may need planning permission for your activity. Contact our Planning Team to check before applying.

Application timeline

We aim to inspect your premises within 14 days of receiving your application. If you haven’t heard from us, please get in touch.

Please note that a listed veterinarian must carry out inspections related to the activity for hiring out horses and will also accompany the Inspector when carrying out the first inspection for a licence to breed dogs.   

After inspection, we’ll assess your risk rating and decide whether to issue a licence. We may refuse if:

• you cannot meet the licence conditions,other than minor failings, or the granting of a licence would have a negative impact on animal welfare or if the level of accommodation
• your premises or staffing are unsuitable for the well‐being of the animals.
• you are disqualified from keeping a pet shop, dog, animal boarding establishment, riding establishment or from having custody of animals. 

We aim to make a decision within 10 weeks, but this may take longer if more information is needed.

Offences and appeals

You cannot apply if you have certain animal-related convictions (see Schedule 8 of the Regulations).

We may authorise competent persons to enter premises, either licensed under the Act or specified in an application for a licence, at all reasonable times to:

• carry out inspections
• respond to emergencies
• investigate complaints

If your application is refused, you can appeal to the First Tier Tribunal within 28 days of the decision.

For more information about the appeal process, and the form you'll need to complete, see General Regulatory Chamber's Notice of appeal form and guidance