Pet Shops

Application Forms

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Application Process

To apply for a Pet Shop licence, applicants must complete and submit an application form accompanied by the relevant fee.

When determining the application for a licence, Vale of Glamorgan Council will take into consideration whether:

• Animals will be suitably fed, watered and visited at suitable intervals
• All reasonable precautions will be taken to prevent the spread among animals of infectious diseases
• Appropriate steps will be taken to protect the animals in the event of a fire or other emergency
• Animals (being mammals) will not be sold at too early an age
• Animals have access to suitable accommodation at all times, with regard to the size, temperature, lighting, ventilation, and cleanliness

A Licensing Officer from the Council will visit the premises to ensure that it complies with the above. In certain circumstances a veterinary inspection may also be undertaken.

Please note: You will need to consider arrangements for the disposal of waste.

A licence shall according to the applicants requirements relate to the year in which it is granted or to the next following year. A licence year operates from 1st January to the 31st December, however you can apply at any time during that period.

Tacit Consent

Yes. This means that you will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from the local authority by the end of the target completion period.

The target time is 60 calendar days.

Background and Eligibility Criteria

Animals may not be sold as pets in any part of a street or public place, or at a stall or barrow in a market.

• Exemptions

  A person shall not be deemed to keep a pet shop if they only keep or sell pedigree animals which are bred by him, or are the offspring of an animal kept as a pet.

   

  Please contact an officer at Vale of Glamorgan Council if you are in the business of breeding pedigree animals and in conjunction with the business, sell animals as pets that were originally acquired with a view to being used, if suitable, for breeding or show purposes, but have been subsequently found not to be suitable. In these circumstances you may be entitled for an exemption from gaining a licence from the Council

• Definitions

  ‘Animal' - includes any description of vertebrate.

   

  'Pedigree Animal' - means an animal of any description which is by its breeding eligible for registration with a recognised club or society keeping a register of animals of that description.

   

  Anyone can apply unless they are now, or have ever been:

   

  - Disqualified from keeping a riding establishment

  - Disqualified from keeping a dog

  - Disqualified from keeping a pet shop

  - Disqualified from having custody of a dog

  - Disqualified from keeping a boarding establishment for dogs

  - Subject to a prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act 2006

Conditions

Conditions will be applied to any licence issued for a pet shop. Please refer to the Licensing Conditions and Guidance for Pet Shops.

Further information in relation to the transportation of animals is available under Article 3 and Animal Technical Rules.

Fees

Application for a pet shop licence: £211.00

All costs associated with determining the application of the licence or any veterinary costs incurred by the Vale of Glamorgan Council during the period of the licence will be charged to the licence holder.

Offences and Penalties

The following offences and penalties apply to pet shops:

• anybody found guilty of keeping a pet shop without a licence may be subject to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale or to three months imprisonment or both;
• anybody found guilty of failing to comply with the conditions of their licence may be subject to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale or to three months imprisonment or both;
• anybody found guilty of carrying on a business of selling animals as pets in any part of a street or public place, or at a stall or barrow in a market, shall be guilty of an offence, subject to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale  or to three months imprisonment or both;
• anybody found guilty of selling an animal as a pet to a person whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be under the age of twelve years, shall be guilty of an offence not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale or to three months imprisonment or both;
• anybody found guilty of obstructing or delaying an inspector, or authorised veterinary surgeon or Veterinary Practitioner in the exercising of their powers of entry may be subject to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.

• Rights of entry

  Authorised officers of the council and/or authorised veterinary surgeons/practitioners may enter and inspect a pet shop at any reasonable time.

   

  Where a person is convicted of any offence under the Pet Animals Act 1951 or any offence under any of sections 4,5,6(1),(2),7 to 9, and 11 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 the court by which he is convicted may cancel any licence held by him under the Pets Animals Act 1951, and may, whether or not he is the holder of such a licence, disqualify him from keeping a pet shop for such period as the court thinks fit.

   

  Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999 and Sale of Dogs (Identifications Tag) Regulations 1999

  It will be important that pet shop keepers note that keepers of licensed breeding establishments must by law provide on sale to a pet shop, a dog which wears a collar with an identifying tag or badge.

   

  The keeper of a licensed pet shop becomes guilty of an offence if he sells on a dog which, when delivered to him, was wearing a collar with an identifying tag or badge but it is not wearing such a collar when delivered to the person to whom he sells it.

   

  An identifying tag or badge, in relation to a dog, means a tag or badge which clearly displays information indicating the licensed breeding establishment at which it was born, the date of birth of the dog, and an identifying number, if any, allocated to the dog by the licensed breeding establishment at which it was born.

   

Complaints and Other Redress

Failed Application Redress: Contact the Local Authority in the first instance.

Any person aggrieved by a refusal to be granted a licence may appeal to the Magistrates Courts who may give such directions regarding the licence or its conditions as it thinks proper.

Licence Holder Redress: Contact the Local Authority in the first instance.

Any person aggrieved by any conditions to which a licence is subject may appeal to the Magistrates Courts who may give such directions regarding the licence or its conditions as it thinks proper. 

Consumer Complaint: View our consumer complaints procedure.

Regulations and Guidance