Animal activity licence
Animal activity licence
Since new legislation was introduced in 2018, the animal activity licence now covers you to undertake a number of activities involving animals, including:
- 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, please contact us.
Conditions of the animal activity licence
There are strict conditions applied nationally for all businesses providing these animal-related services. These are to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the animals.
The licence conditions for each animal activity can be found below:
- Providing boarding for cats updated Feb 2022 (PDF File, 239kb)
- Providing day care for dogs updated Feb 2022 (PDF File, 196kb)
- Conditions for dog breeding updated Feb 2022 (PDF File, 370kb)
- Hiring out horses updated Feb 2022 (PDF File, 239kb)
- Providing home boarding for dogs updated Feb 2022 (PDF File, 210kb)
- Keeping or training animals for exhibition updated Feb 2022 (PDF File, 277kb)
- Providing boarding for dogs in kennels updated Feb 2022 (PDF File, 217kb)
- Selling animals as pets updated Feb 2022 (PDF File, 979kb)
Applying for an animal activity license
To apply for an animal activity licence you will need to fill out of the forms below and return to us by post to Environmental Health, Newark and Sherwood District Council, Castle House, Great North Road, Newark, Notts NG24 1BY or by email environmental.health@nsdc.info.
Application forms
The application forms for each animal activity can be found below:
- Animal boarding application form [812kb]
- Performing animals application form [818kb]
- Breeding and sale of dogs application form [815kb]
- Pet sales application form [838kb]
- Day care application form [812kb]
- Riding establishments application form [838kb]
- Additional horse sheets application form [21kb]
- Home boarding application form [836kb]
Star ratings
When we have received your application, we will assess your business and apply a risk rating and award stars based on your compliance with the licence conditions.
Low-risk premises can attain up to five stars, and premises that have been assessed as higher risk can be awarded up to four stars. If the applicant is not satisfied with the decision, they can make improvements to address highlighted issues, and ask for a re-inspection.
A premises with a lower star rating is not necessarily a premises to avoid as there are other factors that must be considered such as the length of time the licence holder has been operating. New businesses will be assessed as slightly higher risk simply because there is no history of good practice that can be considered.