Glossary
Licensing terms, defined
The words that turn up in licence conditions, inspection reports and the statutory guidance, in one place.
- Animal activities licence
- A licence from the local authority to carry on one or more of the five licensable activities in the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018: selling animals as pets, providing or arranging boarding for cats or dogs, hiring out horses, dog breeding, and keeping or training animals for exhibition. Read more
- Biosecurity
- The practices that stop disease entering or spreading in the premises: cleaning and disinfection, quarantining new arrivals, hand hygiene, and controlling contact between enclosures. Read more
- Daily check
- The routine check Schedule 2 requires of every animal at least once a day, covering health, welfare, environment, food and water, with concerns recorded and acted on. Read more
- Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976
- The law that lists species needing a separate dangerous wild animal licence to keep. A pet seller stocking a listed species must keep it in a secure, lockable enclosure.
- Emergency plan
- A written plan, acceptable to the local authority, covering what happens to the animals in a fire, a failure of heating, ventilation or aeration, a flood or other emergency. Read more
- General conditions (Schedule 2)
- The conditions that apply to every licensed activity: licence display, records, staffing and training, suitable environment, diet, monitoring and health, handling, protection from pain and disease, and an emergency plan. Read more
- Higher standards
- The optional standards in the statutory guidance that go beyond the minimum. Meeting all the required higher standards and at least half of the optional ones earns the higher-standards star bands (three, four or five stars). Read more
- Isolation
- Keeping an animal that is sick, injured or suspected of infection apart from the others, under veterinary advice, so it can be treated and disease doesn’t spread. Animals under treatment must be marked and not sold. Read more
- Licensing officer
- The local authority officer who inspects and licenses animal activities. For selling animals as pets, a suitably qualified inspector; for dog breeding, a veterinarian attends the first inspection.
- Lucy’s Law
- The 2020 amendment to the regulations that bans third-party sales of puppies and kittens in England: a licensed seller may only sell puppies and kittens they bred themselves. Read more
- Pet Animals Act 1951
- The former pet shop licensing law. Replaced in England in 2018 and in Wales in 2021. In Scotland it was replaced by the 2021 licensing regulations for the sale of animals. Read more
- Re-inspection
- A further inspection, which a business can request (and pays for) to have its star rating reassessed, normally within three months of the request. Read more
- Register of animals
- The record Schedule 3 requires of every animal on the premises: supplier, sex, age, treatment, and the dates acquired, sold and died. Kept for at least three years. Read more
- Risk rating
- A score the inspector gives to the business, covering compliance history, welfare risk and so on. A score of up to 17 points is treated as low risk, which combined with the welfare standard sets the star rating. Read more
- Selling animals as pets
- The licensable activity of selling animals as pets, or with a view to their being later resold as pets, in the course of a business. It replaced the pet shop licence under the Pet Animals Act 1951 in England from 1 October 2018. Read more
- Specific conditions (Schedule 3)
- The extra conditions for selling animals as pets: the register of animals, advertising rules, buyer information, accommodation, sale restrictions and transport. Read more
- Star rating
- The one-to-five-star rating a local authority gives a licensed business, based on its welfare standards (minimum or higher) and its risk rating. The rating sets the licence length and must be displayed. Read more
- Statutory guidance
- Defra guidance for local authorities on each licensable activity, which inspectors use to assess whether conditions are met. It includes the minimum and higher standards for the activity. Read more
- Weaned
- An animal that has moved from its mother’s milk to solid food. Mammals can’t be sold unweaned, and puppies, kittens, ferrets and rabbits can’t be sold under eight weeks old. Read more
- Written procedures
- The documented procedures Schedule 2 expects, for example for feeding, cleaning, monitoring, disease control, isolation, handling and emergencies, with evidence that staff follow them. Read more