Animal Welfare

Legislation

New legislation came out in 2021 meaning further activities around animals have been licenced. Further details can be found in the guidance for The Animal Welfare (licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021

To apply for any of the below please contact the office in the first instance.
The cost of all these licences is similar to that of selling pets ie running a pet shop which is £230 in Shetland for the 2024 to 2025 financial year.

Dog Breeding Licence

Any person breeding three or more litters of puppies in any 12 month period must be licensed by the Local Authority. The requirement to be licensed applies whether the breeder sells or otherwise supplies a puppy as a pet to another person.
The requirement to be licensed does not apply however to the breeding of dogs where the offspring are intended to be trained and used as assistance dogs.

Cat Breeding Licence

Any person breeding three or more litters of kittens in any 12 month period must be licensed by the Local Authority. The requirement to be licensed applies whether the breeder sells or otherwise supplies a kitten as a pet to another person.

Rabbit Breeding Licence

Any person breeding three or more litters of kits in any 12 month period must be licensed by the Local Authority. The requirement to be licensed applies whether the breeder sells or otherwise supplies a kit as a pet to another person.
The requirement to be licensed as a rabbit breeder does not apply where a person is breeding rabbits for the purposes of personal consumption or in the course of commercial meat production.

Animal Welfare Establishment or Rehoming Animal Licences

Any persons or organisations operating animal welfare establishments (such as animal sanctuaries or animal rehoming centres) where 8 animals (excluding fish) or 5 dogs or 5 equines are kept at the same time by the operator of the animal welfare establishment must be licenced. The 8 animal threshold excludes any animal under 4 months old if it was born within the animal welfare establishment, or arrived at the animal welfare establishment with its mother. 

Please note that you do not meet the criteria for licensing an Animal Welfare Establishment if the animals you keep are kept:

• as pets.
• at premises used for the care or treatment of animals by a person who is a veterinary surgeon.
• by or are in the care of a local authority.
• as part of farming or for use in the course of a business.
• temporarily by persons licensed under the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963.
• solely for military, police or sporting purposes.
• for exhibition for the purposes of education or entertainment.
• to be trained as assistance dogs.