Havant Borough Council urges anyone who looks after other people’s dogs to hold a mandatory licence - required under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
A licence is required for any premises where a person charges for providing temporary accommodation to other people's dogs - such as kennels, home boarding of dogs, and day care for dogs. Businesses that arrange for the provision of animal boarding, even if they do not board animals themselves, also require a licence, e.g., franchise holders.
There are four licence categories for dog boarding, which are as follows:
- Boarding Kennels - commercial premises boarding dogs overnight in specific units designed for such purpose.
- Non-residential Dog Day Care Centres - commercial premises where dogs are looked after whilst owners are at work or away, and are not boarded overnight.
- Home Boarding - where dogs are kept in the domestic home of an individual who charges for the service. This includes day care for dogs in a domestic home environment.
- Home Boarding Arrangers - where a company, franchise, individual or website takes a commission or fee to arrange boarding for a customer's dog at a satellite premises.
Each site will be inspected for risks and given a star rating from one to five - this will determine whether the premises will be granted a licence for one, two, or three years.
Councillor Richard Brown, Cabinet Lead for Place, said: “Whether you work at a kennel, or board dogs in your own home overnight, you must ensure you have a licence.
"The licence will reassure the dog's owner that licence holders have undergone an inspection and fulfilled the necessary requirements to be granted the licence under the regulations."
If you do not hold a licence, or do not follow the conditions of your licence, you may be issued a fine of up to £500.
For more information, and to apply for a licence, please visit our Boarding Cats and Dogs webpage.