Licences for animal related businesses

Doggy Day-care Licence

You need a licence to provide a doggy day-care service. This is to ensure the welfare of the animals and the safety of the public. A dog day care licence is for businesses that provide daytime care only, for dogs in commercial premises and no dogs are allowed to be kept on the premises overnight. If you are a dog walker or you care for dogs only in their normal place of residence you do not require a day care or home boarding licence.  However if you walk or care for dogs that enter your home premises even for a short period of time you will require a home boarding licence please see page 8. Newham Council is the licensing authority for doggy day-care in Newham.

 If you are interested in obtaining a doggy day-care licence, please email us at animal.welfare@newham.gov.uk  or telephone on 020 8586 9739 for further information and an application.

Inspections of day-care premises 

The London Borough of Newham will inspect your premises before agreeing to issue you with a licence. This is to ensure you can comply with all the general and specific conditions as required by Schedule 2 and Schedule 4 of The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. The London Borough of Newham may also inspect at any time after your licence is issued in line with the regulations.

The length and cost of the licence depends on the star rating you receive after inspection.

Renew a licence to run a doggy day-care business

If you already have a licence, we will write to you to tell you when you need to renew it.

It is your legal responsibility to make sure that you have a current licence.

If you are unsure if you require a licence please contact the animal welfare service before boarding any animals to prevent potential legal action being taken or a warning being issued as this may affect you being able to apply for a licence in the future.