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  3. Animal welfare licences
  4. General animal licences

General animal licences

Apply for general animal welfare licences including animal boarding, hiring of horses and licences for breeding and exhibiting animals.

You should apply for a licence no later than ten weeks before the current licence is due to expire.

A licence will last for either one, two or three years. Licences will be issued according to the risk score and star rating of the premises. These are determined by an inspection by a qualified inspector. Find out about animal licensing inspections, risks and star ratings.

Tacit consent does not apply. It is in the public interest that we must process your application before it can be granted. 

Fill in and return the correct application form by email.

Dog or cat boarding

 Application for a licence to provide or arrange for the provision of boarding for cats or dogs (docx / 209 KB)

Selling animals as pets

 Selling animals as pets licence (docx / 254 KB)

Dog breeding

 Breeding of dogs licence (docx / 184 KB)

Hiring out of horses

 Hiring out of horses licence (docx / 216 KB)

You can add a horse or pony to your licence at any time. To add you must:

  • ensure the horse or pony undergoes a veterinary check
  • pay the required fee

We can only add horses or ponies listed in the equine database.

Keeping and training of animals for exhibition

 Keeping and training of animals for exhibition licence (docx / 192 KB)

Fees and charges

View our licensing fees and charges

How to pay

  • Pay for a licence covering the Selby area
  • Pay for a licence covering the Harrogate area
  • Pay for a licence covering the Richmond, Hambleton and Craven areas
  • Pay for a licence covering the Ryedale and Scarborough areas

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© 2026 North Yorkshire Council

The council provides services across North Yorkshire including Harrogate, Ripon, Scarborough, Whitby, Northallerton, Thirsk, Selby, Tadcaster, Malton, Pickering, Richmond, Skipton and more.

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