Selling animals as pets
You’ll need a licence if you want to sell animals:
- as pets
- with a view to them later being resold as pets as part of a business.
How to apply
To apply for a licence to sell animals as pets, complete our online form and pay the correct fee.
We recommend reading the guidance notes for selling animals as pets.
Fees
There are 2 parts to the fee:
- Part A - a fee of £240 for processing your application, including any appropriate checks.
- Part B - an additional fee, if you’re successful in being granted a licence, which depends on the risk rating your establishment receives during its inspection.
The Part B fee will be:
- £240 if you receive a 1 or 2 star
- £370 if you receive a 3 or 4 star
- £530 if you receive a 5 star.
We offer a pre-application advice service if you need advice and guidance on applying for a licence. The fee for this service is £115. If pre-application advice leads to a licence application, the Part A application fee will be
To book a pre-application advice meeting please email animal.licensing@medway.gov.uk.
Apply and pay the fee
You'll need the following information to apply for a licence:
- a list of animals you're going to sell, including the maximum number, accommodation and age at which to be sold
- your details, including your name and relationship to the business
- the applicants’ details (if different), including name, contact information and address
- emergency keyholder details
- veterinary practice details
- business and premises details, including operating procedures
- staff training details.
You'll also need to tell us about:
- waste and emergency response agreements
- isolation plans
- information about the prevention and control of infectious disease
- public liability insurance and planning.
Apply for a licence to sell animals as pets
After you apply
Your application will then be reviewed, and we’ll email a payment request form to you to complete online.
Once you have paid the Part A fee and we have received your supporting documentation and procedures, we'll contact you to arrange an inspection of the premises by one of our licensing officers and, if necessary, an independent vet.
After the inspection, if successful, you'll get a risk rating of either 1,2,3,4 or 5 stars. This will determine how long your licence will last for.
To complete your application and receive your licence, you'll need to pay the hourly rate for the vet, where necessary, and your Part B fee. The licence details will also be published in Medway Council’s online Animal Licensing Register.
For more information, you can download our guidance notes.
Inspection reports
You can download and begin to complete the inspection report that will be used by our visiting officers. This will help to speed up the inspection.
Download the inspection report for selling animals.
Renewing a licence
If you already have an animal licence, you'll need to renew at least 10 weeks before your existing licence expires.