Animal Licensing

Activities that can impact on Animal Welfare may need a licence

New Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities involving Animals) Regulations came into force on October 1, 2018. It replaces all previous legislation for animal licensing (apart from Dangerous Wild Animals and Zoo Licensing).

Under these regulations, you will have just one licence for multiple activities.

Coronavirus information

The RSPCA have published useful advice about walking someone else's dog and information about animal welfare. The CFSG have also published guidance for animal businesses and a pet service protocol matrix.

Apply for a licence

Please read the guidance and conditions below before submitting your application.

To apply, complete the relevant application form. Return it with any supporting documents and the correct fee.

View Icon for pdf current fees [308.37KB].

If you need further advice, please contact our licensing team.

Pre-application advice

Not sure if you need a licence? We offer a pre-application advice service. The fee for this is £43.00 per hour.

Icon for word Get pre-application advice for Animal Licensing [31KB]

To apply, complete the form above and email it to licensing@fenland.gov.uk. An officer will contact you to confirm the cost and arrange a suitable time to speak to you.

Guidance and licence conditions

New licences and renewals are subject to new licensing conditions. These conditions will be used by our Licensing Compliance Officer and nominated Vet when inspecting your premises.

General animal welfare conditions [195.76KB] apply to all activities. Each activity also has specific conditions that apply:

Boarding for cats or dogs	You may need a licence if you are planning to provide accommodation for other people's cats or dogs as a business. DEFRA guidance - Animal Boarding for Cats [1.18MB] DEFRA guidance - Animal Boarding in Dog Kennels [423.96KB] DEFRA guidance - Home Boarding for Dogs [564.82KB] DEFRA guidance - Doggy Day Care [429.76KB] View the specific conditions that apply to boarding for cats or dogs [219.51KB]
Breeding dogs	You may need a licence if you are: breeding three or more litters of puppies in a 12 month period; and/or breeding dogs and advertising a business of selling dogs View DEFRA guidance - Dog Breeding [351.63KB] View the specific conditions that apply to dog breeding [196.37KB]
Hiring out horses	You may need a licence if you are planning to hire out horses within the course of a business for the purpose of: riding; and/or instruction in riding View DEFRA guidance - Hiring of Horses [462.97KB] View the specific conditions that apply to hiring out horses [184.9KB]
Keeping or training animals for exhibition	You may need a licence if you are planning to: keep or train animals as a business for educational or entertainment purposes; and there is an audience attending in person; or visual images are being recorded by any form of technology that enables the display of such images View DEFRA guidance - Keeping or Training Animals for exhibition [616.25KB] View the specific conditions that apply to keeping or training animals for exhibition [184.1KB]
Selling animals as pets	You may need a licence if you are: planning to sell animals as pets; and it is the intention to resell them at a later stage as pets; and it is within the course of a business View DEFRA guidance - Selling Animals as Pets [682.45KB] View the specific conditions that apply to selling pets [189.31KB]

Risk rating (length of licence)

Officers will 'risk rate' premises at the time of inspection. The level of risk determines how long a licence will be issued for:

5 star premises - licence given for 36 months
4 star and 3 star premises - licence given for 24 months
2 star and 1 star premises - licence given for 12 months

If you disagree with the rating given, you can Icon for pdf appeal your rating [114.33KB].

You can also request a Icon for pdf re-rating of your premises [78.46KB].

Exotic, dangerous and wild animals

The keeping of certain species of wild animals is controlled by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. You need to get a licence from us if you want to keep any animal listed within this act.

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