Dog kennel boarding licence

If you provide housing for dogs that is part or solely the activity of your business, you will need a dog kennel boarding licence.

This applies to boarding kennels that care for dogs whilst their owners are away.

The cost of a licence is £324. We will only ask you to pay the fee once we are satisfied we have all the required documentation.

Dog kennel boarding rules

• You must have written consent from owners for a dog to be walked outside the facility.
• Dogs from different households must not be mixed, including in exercise areas and when being walked – unless prior written consent has been obtained from the owners.
• The owner must stipulate what mixing is to take place, for example, whether it is mixing with dogs selected by the proprietor or with named dogs only.
• Only dogs from the same household may share a kennel unit. Where dogs share a unit, you must have the owner’s written consent and dogs must be monitored. Consent from the owner must also include permission to separate dogs, should problems arise.
• Consent to seek veterinary assessment and emergency treatment and to administer medicines prescribed by a veterinarian.
• There must be written consent between the dog owner and licence holder with regards to which veterinarian is to be used when the dog is first placed.

Licence conditions

When you apply you will be prompted to upload your procedures or provide information to prove that you can meet the licence conditions. This includes:

• Ofqual level 2 higher, or clear evidence of knowledge and experience
• Written training policy for all staff
• Enrichment plan
• Procedure for dogs under one year of age
• Policy for monitoring the introduction of new dogs coming into the environment
• Cleaning procedures
• Feeding regimes procedure
• Transportation procedure (if applicable)
• The prevention and control of the spread of disease procedure (vaccinations against canine parvovirus, canine distemper, infectious canine hepatitis (adenovirus), leptospirosis and other relevant diseases
• Monitoring and ensuring the health and welfare of all the animal’s procedure
• The death or escape of an animal procedure
• Emergency procedures including but not limited to fire and extreme weather
• Veterinarian details
• Dog screening procedure
• Dog register
• Preventative healthcare plan agreed with appointed veterinarian

This list is not exhaustive and extra documents may be required - read the government’s dog kennel boarding conditions in full for details of all documented procedures.

How to apply

Apply online 

Read our privacy notice which tells you how we use your data.

What happens next?

We will review your application within 21 days. If you have not provided your procedures or proof that you can meet the licence conditions with your online application, we will ask you to send these to us.

When we are satisfied we have all the required information we will contact you to pay the licence fee in full.

Once you have paid, we will arrange for an inspector to visit your premises to check that you meet the conditions of the licence.

Following this inspection and if all the minimum standards are met, we will issue your licence. This will tell you how long your licence will last and what your star rating is, based on the government criteria. We aim to issue the licence within 10 weeks of receiving the application.

Appeals

If we have made a decision to refuse, vary, suspend or revoke a licence, you can appeal to the General Regulatory Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal.

Star ratings

After inspection, each premise will receive a star rating between 1 and 5, with 5 being the highest rating. To achieve the best possible rating, you will need to have covered all the standard conditions, including all required consents, policies and procedures.

To meet the highest rating, certain higher standards must be met.

Higher standards (required)

• The licence holder needs to have at least one full-time member of staff for every 15 dogs kept.
• Dogs must be provided with a design and layout that gives them choice.
• All dogs must be checked at least once at an appropriate interval during the out of hours period, for example, between 6pm and 8am by CCTV or in person. There must be documented records for checking.
• There must be a clear plan setting out two periods of exercise per dog each day for a minimum of 20 minutes each, or two sessions of access to a secure open area away from the kennel unit. There must be an alternative form of enrichment planned for dogs that cannot be exercised for veterinary reasons for the same periods of time.
• The sleeping area must be at least 2.85 square metres.
• There must be a documented daily enrichment plan setting out 2 or more sessions with toys or feed enrichment per day, in addition to their exercise.

Higher standards (optional) 50% required

• There must be a member of permanent, full-time staff with an appropriate Ofqual regulated level 3 qualification.
• A member of staff must be on site at all times.
• Ventilation must be a managed, fixed or portable air system to maintain temperatures in all weathers (a minimum of 10°C and a maximum of 26°C. This can be an air conditioning unit or removable fans installed safely away from animals.
• A noise management plan to reduce noise to the dogs must be in place. For example, physical barriers, sound-absorbing build structure, positive reinforcement training to keep barking down, kennel design to prevent noise generation with demonstration of effectiveness.

Licence variation

To vary your licence please email Environmental.Health@liverpool.gov.uk with your proposals. We will then contact you to pay the licence variation fee. 

On receipt of payment, we will review your proposals and arrange a site visit if this is required, depending on the variation.

If you need further information, please contact us.