Any shop selling pets must be licensed.
Exceptions
These provisions only apply to the selling of vertebrates.
You do not need a pet shop licence to sell the offspring of a pedigree animal kept as a pet.
You do not need a pet shop licence where a person carries on a business of breeding pedigree animals, and the local authority are satisfied that the animals being sold have not been bred but have been acquired for breeding or show purposes and have been found to be unsuitable for those purposes.
Applying for a licence
When we receive your completed application and fee we will arrange for an inspection of the premises resulting in a report upon the suitability of the application.
We may impose conditions on the licence to ensure that appropriate welfare standards are met. In general these will be standard conditions but specific conditions may be attached if it is thought to be appropriate to the circumstances.
Our application form and a copy of our standard licence conditions for pet shops can be downloaded from this page.
Note that in addition to a full inspection prior to the granting of a new licence or a renewal, licensed premises will also be subject to unannounced inspections to ensure that the licence conditions are being met and that the welfare of the animals being kept for sale under the licence is secured.
Licences must be renewed annually while the keeping of a pet shop continues and we would recommend that applications for renewal are made in good time to ensure that we are satisfied new licences can and should be granted and issued prior to the expiry of the existing one.
Licence fee
You will need to pay a fee to cover our costs in administering the licence.
Licence fees are charged annually upon application for renewal. Please note that a licence will expire on 31 December each year. Therefore a licence granted initially during a year will only remain valid for the remainder of it.
Other issues
You must ensure that any other necessary general regulatory approval, such as planning permission, is also in place.
Contact us
Email: animalwarden@hounslow.gov.uk
Animal Warden Team
Environment
London Borough of Hounslow
Bridge Road Depot
Pears Road
Hounslow
TW3 1SQ
Tel:020 8583 5555
Fax:020 8583 5088
Minicom: 020 8583 6622