Animal Licensing Policy

The Council has an expectation that all animal licence holders will inform them should there be significant changes to how their business operates or how the animals will be kept. For example, where a licence holder decides to employ a manager who will have responsibility for the day to day operating of the business, where this was not the case at the time of application, or where significant changes are made to the facilities where the animals are kept.

The Council must also ensure that licence holders remain fit and proper during the life of a licence. For this reason, licence holders must notify the Council, in writing, within 72 hours, if any of the following occurs :

• They have any type of animal licence suspended or revoked
• They are convicted or receive warnings or cautions for any animal welfare offence;
• They are disqualified under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, or any other legislation as specified in Schedule 8 of the Animal Welfare (Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018
• Are subject to bail conditions which may affect the licence holder’s ability to operate their business.

Licence holders must also notify the Council within 2 working days if any significant incident happens whilst operating their business. Examples of this would be an animal escaping, an animal injuring a member of staff, a dog on dog attack or similar.

Failing to notify the Council will raise serious questions for the Council as to the honesty of the licence holder.