Animal Welfare licences
**Bird Flu (Avian influenza)**
All poultry and captive birds must be housed in England until further notice.
The government has announced that mandatory housing measures for all poultry and captive birds are to be introduced to all areas of England from 7 November.
The housing measures legally require all bird keepers to keep their birds indoors and to follow stringent biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks from the disease, regardless of type or size.
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.
If you are an animal owner
Please use this link to find businesses currently holding an animal welfare licence in the district and their rating (top rating is 5). On this page, then click the links under ‘Related information’ on the right hand side for the different licence types (i.e. Dog boarding, cattery, etc).
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
