Cornwall Council is contacting people who provide day care for dogs in Cornwall to advise them that they need to have a licence to provide the service.

The Council has previously only required boarding kennels, catteries or home boarding premises to be licenced under the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963.

However, following legal advice, it has now been identified that anyone providing daily dog care is also required to have a licence.

Examples of dog day care include looking after somebody’s dog during the day or for a greater part of the day while they are awaiting dog grooming, dog obedience training or exercise via walking either at or from the service provider’s property or home address.

This could include a combination of dogs from different households.

There are a number of specific requirements for running a dog day care business, which include assessing the compatibility of the dogs by the operator, the size, structure and layout of the premises and the number of staff available for supervision.

The number of dogs permitted at an individual premises will be based on the criteria set out in the legislation and the results of the inspection carried out by the Licensing Enforcement Officer.

Anyone who is carrying out any of these activities and feels they may need a licence should call 0300 1234212.