Animal Welfare licences
**Bird Flu (Avian influenza)**
Mandatory housing measures for poultry and captive birds, which were introduced across England and Wales to help stop the spread of bird flu, will be lifted from 00:01 on Tuesday 18 April 2023. You can find the latest situation on the government’s Bird Flu page.
If you suspect an outbreak of bird flu (avian influenza) or need advice click here for guidance on what to do , there is also additional resources in our External links section on this page
The animal licensing regulations
We licence animal welfare establishments under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Under these regulations, we also score the business by examining the overall environment and welfare standards using a scoring system. You can see the scoring system here.
You can view our animal welfare licensing register here – you will find the different license types (eg. dog boarding, cattery etc) on the right hand side of this page under the heading “Related information”
If you provide care for animals
You will need a licence if you run a business that does the following activities.
- Day care for dogs – application form
- Providing home boarding for dogs – application form
- Providing boarding in kennels for dogs – application form
- Breeding dogs – application form
- Providing boarding for cats – application form
- Hiring out horses – application form
- Selling animals as pets – application form
- Keeping or training animals for exhibitions – application form
Please download, complete, save and return the appropriate application form from the list below (including the application fee)
We strongly recommend that you read through the guidance notes available from the Canine and Feline Sector Group.
If you are applying for a new licence for breeding dogs, selling animals as pets, hiring out horses or exhibiting animals, we will also arrange a vet inspection.
Riding schools are inspected by a vet annually.
We will recharge the licence holder for all costs incurred in arranging the inspections (including the vet fees).
If you have a query regarding an animal welfare licence, please complete our online form Animal welfare licensing enquiry.
Application fees
For a list of all our licence charges, please see our application fees page.
Other queries
You can find out more information here for:
Contact us - Environmental Protection
01235 422403
(Text phone users add 18001 before dialing)
South Oxfordshire District Council
Environmental Protection Team
Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE
