Response 3967126

Response to request for information

Reference

3967126

Response date

8 April 2026

Request

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information, please:

1. If you do not already publish this information publicly and in an up-to-date format, please could you confirm how many dog breeding businesses your local authority currently licences (as of today’s date) pursuant to the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018?
2. Please provide a breakdown by licence of the number of
   • breeding female adult dogs
   • breeding male adult dogs
   • litters of puppies (please indicate the number permitted at any one time and/or within a twelve-month period)
   • other (non-breeding) dogs specified on each dog breeding licence
   • the star rating
   • expiry date of each dog breeding licence currently in effect.
3. If you do not already publish this information publicly and in an up-to-date format, please could you confirm how many licensed pet sellers your local authority currently licences (as of today’s date) pursuant to the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018?
4. With reference to your response to question 3, how many licensed pet sellers are currently permitted to sell:
   • Puppies/Dogs
   • Kittens/Cats
   • Rabbits
5. With reference to your response to question 4, please provide a breakdown by licence of the number of
   • puppies/dogs
   • kittens/cats
   • rabbits specified on each licence
   • the star rating
   • expiry date of each licence currently in effect
6. Since the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 came into effect how many applications has your council received for a licence to sell cats, how many of these were granted?
7. If any applicant was not granted a licence, what were the reasons and how many were declined for each reason? (Please specify all that apply):
   • Concerns about animal welfare
   • Unsuitable premises
   • Application withdrawn
   • Not within council area
   • Didn’t meet threshold for a licence
   • Application incomplete
   • Other – please specify
8. Please indicate which of the following statements apply by ticking yes or no for each statement and stating the number of licences.
   • Have you revoked the licence of any cat sellers in your area? If yes, how many?
   • Have you renewed the licence of any cat sellers in your area? If yes, how many?

If this request exceeds cost of compliance limits, please refine the request to questions 1-5. If the request still falls outside of cost limits, please advise how I may refine my request to ensure it fits within the scope of the Act.

Response

1. If you do not already publish this information publicly and in an up-to-date format, please could you confirm how many dog breeding businesses your local authority currently licences (as of today’s date) pursuant to the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018?
   • • Applications Search Search by selecting ‘AWL Dog Breeding’ and ‘issued’ as status and please review the activities and the documents tabs for all the information you require.
2. Please provide a breakdown by licence of the number of
   • breeding female adult dogs
   • breeding male adult dogs
   • litters of puppies (please indicate the number permitted at any one time and/or within a twelve-month period)
   • other (non-breeding) dogs specified on each dog breeding licence
   • the star rating
   • expiry date of each dog breeding licence currently in effect.
     • There are no records kept for breeding, see as search results for volumes permitted, star ratings and expiry dates.
3. If you do not already publish this information publicly and in an up-to-date format, please could you confirm how many licensed pet sellers your local authority currently licences (as of today’s date) pursuant to the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018?
   • • Use the same search as detailed in question 1, but for other animals select ‘AWL The Selling of Animals as Pets’ and ‘issued’ as status, again review the activities and documents tabs of the search results.
4. With reference to your response to question 3, how many licensed pet sellers are currently permitted to sell:
   • Puppies/Dogs
   • Kittens/Cats
   • Rabbits
     • Use the same search as detailed in question 1, but for other animals select ‘AWL The Selling of Animals as Pets’ and ‘issued’ as status, again review the activities and documents tabs of the search results.
5. With reference to your response to question 4, please provide a breakdown by licence of the number of
   • puppies/dogs
   • kittens/cats
   • rabbits specified on each licence
   • the star rating
   • expiry date of each licence currently in effect
     • The searches detailed above provide the information required
6. Since the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 came into effect how many applications has your council received for a licence to sell cats, how many of these were granted?
   • • All the applications received are detailed on the search above using the applications option.
7. If any applicant was not granted a licence, what were the reasons and how many were declined for each reason? (Please specify all that apply):
   • Concerns about animal welfare
   • Unsuitable premises
   • Application withdrawn
   • Not within council area
   • Didn’t meet threshold for a licence
   • Application incomplete
   • Other – please specify
     • Not Applicable
8. Please indicate which of the following statements apply by ticking yes or no for each statement and stating the number of licences.
   • Have you revoked the licence of any cat sellers in your area? If yes, how many?
   • Have you renewed the licence of any cat sellers in your area? If yes, how many?
     • The searches detailed above provide the information required.