Animal welfare licence
On the 1 October 2018, the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals)(England) Regulations 2018 came into force.
The new regulations replaced the licensing regimes for animal boarding, dog breeding, pet shops and riding establishments and have significantly changed the way that activities involving animals are licensed in England.
Each licence issued will be awarded a star rating of between one and five stars.
Existing operators who received the lowest one star rating, will generally be given 12 months to improve their business to meet the new minimum standards.
Licences will not be issued to new operators unless they satisfy all of the minimum standards.