Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) England Regulations 2018 guide

On 1 October 2018, the new Regulations of activities involving animals came into force which changed the previous licensing regime for businesses involved in dog breeding, dog and cat boarding including home boarding, dog day care, the selling of pet animals, and the exhibiting of animals. BVA has developed a guidance note to explain these regulations.

Note: you do not need to be a BVA member to access any of the links on this page.

Defra has also produced the following guidance documents and template forms:

• Procedural guidance for local authorities (PDF 475KB)
• Dog boarding (PDF 458KB)
• Home boarding for dogs (PDF 491KB)
• Dog day care (PDF 444KB)
• Dog breeding (PDF 563KB)
• Cat boarding (PDF 1.37MB)
• Selling animals as pets (PDF 515KB)
• Hiring out horses (PDF 455KB)
• Keeping or training animals for exhibition (PDF 515KB)
• Defra (2019) – Preventative healthcare plan template (Word 28KB)