Animal boarding and day care for dogs
Please note that, following updated guidance from DEFRA, businesses that look after dogs in a home environment will now be licensed under 'home boarding' and not 'providing day care for dogs'.
You will need a licence if you are:
- Providing boarding for cats
- Providing boarding in kennels for dogs
- Providing home boarding for dogs (apply for this if you are looking after dogs through the day in a home setting)
- Providing day care for dogs (commercial setting only)
If you arrange accommodation for other people’s dogs, you will need to apply as an arranger.
If you are unsure if this applies to you, contact the Licensing Team to be sent a pre-application form.
How to apply
Forms available from the Licensing Team
You will need to submit the following:
- A completed application form
- Plan – an overhead view of the premises with dimensions, labelling sleeping and run areas including entrances, fire exits, fire extinguishers or first aid boxes (if applicable). This can be a sketch/line drawing and does not need to be to scale
- The application fee
An inspection with our Melton Borough Council’s appointed Officer will be arranged after we have received a completed application.
After your inspection, your premises will be awarded one to five stars and the licence be granted for one to three years dependent on the outcome of a risk assessment and standards that are met. Each licence will be subject to mandatory general and specific conditions. Further details and exemptions are listed in the regulations and guidance. Please see external links for the guidance for each activity below.
You will need to ensure you have the necessary permissions under the Planning Acts to operate your business. Please contact the Planning Team or find further advice by visiting our pages on planning permissions.
Dog walkers
Professional dog walking is not a licensable activity. We do not hold any records of people wishing to do this and we do not have any enforcement powers regarding this. Members of the public wishing to use the services of dog walkers are encouraged to check they have suitable public liability insurance and background checks.
LAIA licensed kennelling, home boarding or day care of XL Bullies
It will still be possible for businesses to provide these services for exempted XL Bully type dogs if they wish to do so. If you require further information on this please see "advice for owners of XL Bully dogs"
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Animal welfare licence register (48.2kb) Uploaded 16 April 2024
