Apply and renew licences for dog breeding
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018
Licence applications
If you intend to breed from dogs and sell the puppies or you want to run a dog breeding business then you will need to apply for a licence. You will need to complete a Dog Breeding Licence application.
See running a dog breeding 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 should be attached to your application:
- Preventative Healthcare Plan/ Biosecurity Risk Assessment (signed by applicant’s registered veterinarian).
- Staff Training Policy
- Cleaning and Hygiene procedure
- Immature animals opportunities procedure
- Separating/ grouping of animals policy
- Feeding procedure
- Disease control and prevention procedure
- Transport Procedure
- Monitoring and Ensuring Health and Welfare of Animals Procedure
- Isolation Procedure
- Death and Escape of Animals Procedure
- Written Emergency Plan covering fire (evacuation, firefighting equipment, how animals are evacuated and kept safe during the emergency, smoke & CO detector locations/ testing & fire drills), loss of utilities, extremes of weather/ temperature, breakdown of vehicle during animal transport, alternative accommodation provision in the event of premises becoming uninhabitable.
- Repair and maintenance procedure/ programme.
- Letter from vets confirming registration and services provided to operator. (Storage of cadavers, emergency vet treatment & isolation facilities)
- Site plan of premises
- Public Liability Insurance Certificate for at least £5 million cover (not to be confused with employers’ liability which is different)
- List of staff qualifications
- Staff training records for each member of staff (including volunteers)
- DBS Certificate
- Socialisation and habituation plan for puppies
- Dealing with difficult dogs procedure.
- Enrichment plan for all dogs
- Introduction of new dogs
- Puppy contract
- Puppy pack information and list of contents
Licence renewals
If you hold a dog breeding licence this will need to be renewed before the expiry date every year. Please make sure you have applied to renew your licence at least 3 months before it expires to give us time to arrange the inspection. You will need to complete a Dog Breeding Licence Renewal application.
Any personal information which you provide will be held and used by East Devon District Council for the purpose of issuing you with a licence for dog breeding and on the basis of public task.
Who will receive or see my personal information?
Your information may also be shared within East Devon District Council for the purposes of carrying out our lawful functions. Otherwise your personal information will not be disclosed to anybody outside East Devon District Council without your permission, unless there is a lawful reason to do so, for example disclosure is necessary for crime prevention or detection purposes. Your information will be held securely and will not be retained for any longer than is necessary. There are a number of rights available to you in relation to our use of your personal information, depending on the reason for processing. Further detail about our use of your personal information can be found in the relevant Privacy Notice.
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.