3. Apply and renew licences for a dog home boarding establishment
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018
Licence applications
If you want to run a business looking after a small number of other peoples' dogs in your own home you will need to apply for a home boarding licence.
You will need to complete a Dog Home Boarding application form.
Alternatively you can download our application form here and return this to us via email at environmentalhealth@eastdevon.gov.uk
See running a dog or cat boarding business for more information.
What you will need
You will need to provide us with information about the business such as your operating procedures outlining how you meet and comply with each of the conditions of the licence.
The following documents will need to be available for inspection during your visit:
Preventative Healthcare Plan/ Biosecurity Risk Assessment (signed by applicant’s registered veterinarian).
Staff Training Policy
Cleaning and Hygiene procedure
Introduction of New Dogs Procedure
Feeding procedure
Disease control and prevention procedure
Transport Procedure
Monitoring and Ensuring health and Welfare of Animals Procedure
Death and Escape of Animals Procedure
Written Emergency Plan
Site plan of premises
Plan of designated dog rooms with dimensions
Enrichment Procedure/ plan
Trial Stay/ Overnight Stay procedure
For a full checklist of documents, click here.
You can find further guidance available at Dog Home Boarding
Licence renewals
If you hold a home boarding establishment licence this will need to be renewed before the expiry date each year. Please make sure you have applied to renew your licence at least one month before it expires to give us time to arrange the inspection.
Start the journey
More info about the journey
Payments
- You will need to pay a fee for your licence. Please make sure you are aware of how much this will cost
- You will need a credit or debit card to pay by phone
- You will need to provide details of your current insurance for the business
Once you have submitted your application, we will check the details and supporting documents to make sure we have everything we need. We’ll contact you if we require additional information.
We aim to determine all applications within 10 weeks of receiving a complete application.
After the inspection has been conducted, the inspector will grant or refuse the licence. Where a licence has been granted, you should expect to receive the hard copy of the licence in the post within two weeks.
Where a licence has been refused, the inspector will provide the decision in writing, stating the grounds for refusal and your rights of appeal.
What you can do if you haven't heard from us
It is in the public interest that we process your application before deciding if it can be granted. This means that you'll need to wait for our decision before you start operating. If after a month you haven't heard from us please contact us by email or telephone for an update.
What you can do if your application is unsuccessful
Please contact us to discuss why you have been refused a licence or if you think we have asked for an unreasonable condition.
Appeals
If you are not happy with our decision, you can appeal to the magistrates court. A court may give directions on the issue of a licence or on any conditions imposed.
Alternatively you can download our application form here and return this to us via email at environmentalhealth@eastdevon.gov.uk