Licence for animal boarding or dog day care

You need a licence if you provide as part of your business:

  • accommodation for other people's cats and dogs, where the provision of that accommodation is partly or solely the activity of the business
  • arranging accommodation for other people's cats and dogs (there are separate requirements for arrangers and hosts)
  • overnight accommodation for cats in purpose built cattery units
  • home boarding of cats, where the cats are kept in purpose built cattery units and not in the domestic home. Home boarding of cats within a domestic setting is not permitted
  • overnight accommodation for dogs in a home environment. This must be inside a domestic home which is not the usual home where the animals are kept, and not in external kennel accommodation (where external kennel accommodation is used, this would fall under the scope of providing boarding in kennels for dogs)
  • daytime accommodation for dogs away from the dog's normal place of residence and do not keep them overnight

Activities that don't need a licence:

  • Where accommodation is provided for other people's cats and dogs, but where the provision of that accommodation is not the purpose of that business, for example, veterinary practices where the accommodation provided is part of the treatment of the animal
  • If you look after the cat in its usual home (such as cat sitters)
  • If you look after the dog in its usual home (such as dog sitters and dog walkers)

Licence conditions

You must be able to meet the general and specific conditions before we will issue you with a licence:

Defra guidance document

You should read the procedural and applicable activity guidance documents which we will refer to during the application process. They detail the higher standards you will need to meet to get a higher star rating and longer lasting licence. 

Make an application