17/10/2024
Shared from another group!
Licenced or Unlicensed...which should we as owners choose to leave our dogs with?
I speak for thousands of licenced businesses, particularly home boarders up and down England when say the following....
We appreciate some humans are first time dog owners, or are new to home boarding as opposed to kennels & we appreciate that many, many, many owners are unaware that anyone who charges a fee for looking after your dog in the businesses home (not owners) requires to be licenced by law, by their council, compliant to government regulations and inspected by their councils animal welfare team.
Animal welfare regulations England 2018
Scotland & Wales also have animal welfare regulations.
Many owners are also not aware that the majority of carers on Rover, Bark, Pet Backer, Pawshake, Tailster, Holidogs and other such 'canine caring' platforms also require to have an individual licence pertaining to their own home and business.
Just because these platforms say the carer is insured by them, they are NOT, if the individual does not have a licence.
These platforms also DO NOT CHECK the individuals home is suitable or safe to board a dog.
It's simple: NO LICENCE = INVALID BUSINESS INSURANCE =INVALIDATES OWNERS own DOG/PET INSURANCE.
Only by using licenced service you protected by the business' insurance.
Always ask to see that person's licence...do not assume they have one just because they say they are registered or fully insured, or licenced.
Many multiple people falsely claim they are. And to show an owner that they are registered with companies house does not mean they are licenced.
Recently someone even told me that they don't need a licence because they board less than 6 dogs or 4 dogs.
It doesn't matter how many dogs they board. If they receive payment...they require to be licenced.
Others suggest that because they don't earn more than £1k/ year with boarding or day care, they don't need a licence... because that's what the regulations state.
The £1k comes down to... the amount you can earn before declaring earnings to the HMRC if you are self employed only without any other income.
FACT
So... if they are a dog walker, a babysitter, a plumber, sell cakes, groomer, a private carer, a trainer and if they are part time or fully employed, and or, paying tax, they are required to have a licence regardless. Some councils enforce it...sadly others do not.
If you haven't seen that licence then they are not licensed.
If you used a licenced service last year, or whenever your dog last used them, ask to see it again...do not assume they are still licenced!! Always check the expiry date.
This is the same for day care providers and kennels.
Glendee Kennels in Hertfordshire traded without a licence for 2 years and yet hundreds of owners kept using them & recommending them to others. But they were not legally trading nor insured. They were prosecuted for running a kennels without a licence. The other of Woburn Kennels under Central Bedfordshire in 2023 was convicted for running a kennels without a licence as it was revoked the year before.
2024 a kennels in Central Bedfordshire was shut down with an immediate effect for not having a licence, & was boarding dogs.
Whether you as an owner knowingly or unknowingly use an unlicensed service, you risk your dogs health and safety & welfare. Fact.
When it goes wrong, who do you get in contact with?
Who pays for your damaged or dead dog?
Who is accountable for any harm coming to your dog?
Do you report them to the council licensing team?
Did you even know you could report an Unlicensed person? Well you can. If you choose not to report someone because you don't want to get them in trouble...then you are colluding with them & allowing that person to carry on breaking the law & committing a criminal offence.
Look after your four legged family members.
