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

Licence applications

If you want to sell animals as pets you will need to apply for a licence. You will need to complete a Pet Sales Licence application.

See selling animals as pets 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
  • Cleaning 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
  • Plan of animal accommodation for each enclosure with dimensions
  • 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)
  • Live vertebrate prey feeding procedure (where live food may need to be fed to reptiles)(reptile sales only)
  • Euthanasia of animals procedure
  • Dangerous Wild Animals Procedure which covers risk assessments and advising customers of DWA licensing requirements
  • Envenomation Procedure (where venomous Animals are kept/sold)
  • Care sheets for each species sold.
  • List of species, quantity, size of animals
  • Animal accommodation details
  • Stocking densities per enclosure calculations

Dogs

  • Daily exercise & enrichment regime
  • Socialisation and habituation programme
  • Dealing with difficult dogs procedure
  • Overnight care procedures outside of premises closures.

Cats

  • Daily exercise & enrichment regime
  • Socialisation and habituation programme

Rabbits

  • Daily exercise & enrichment regime for exercise outside of housing.

Birds

  • Socialisation and enrichment for singly housed birds

Reptiles and Amphibians

  • Temperature management procedure for each species detailing ambient daytime temperatures, night temperatures and basking zone temperatures.
  • Wastewater Management and treatment plan to ensure no microorganisms are released accidently.

Licence renewals

Licence can be valid for one to three years, depending on the standard.  You will need to apply to renew your licence at least 3 months before expiry if you want to keep running the business. You will need to complete a Pet Sales Licence Renewal application. 

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

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 pet sales 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.

Public register

Animal License activities and Establishments