Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018
The Government has recently published the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 under section 13 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The effect of the new regulations is to replace some existing licensing regimes and to put in place a new licensing regime to control the following “licensable activities”:
- Selling animals as pets
- Providing or arranging for the provision of boarding for cats or dogs
- Hiring out horses
- Breeding dogs
- Keeping or training animals for exhibition
The regulations came into effect on 1 October 2018 and introduced a new licensing regime to replace the licensing and registration regimes which were in place under the following legislation:
- Pet Animals Act 1951
- Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963
- Riding Establishments Acts 1964 & 1970
- Breeding of Dogs Act 1973 & Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999
- Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925
If you have a licence under one of the above pieces of legislation that is in force prior to 1 October 2018, it will continue to be valid under that legislation until it is due to expire. You will then need to apply for a licence under the new regulations.
Guidance from DEFRA
The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has now published procedural guidance for local authorities in relation to the new regulations, along with guidance notes on the conditions that will apply to licences issued to authorise the different licensable activities. The procedural guidance and other guidance notes can be downloaded from the DEFRA pages of GOV.UK.