The Environmental Health and Licensing service is consulting on a draft new policy for animal welfare and constitution changes. The service is a regulator for animal welfare standards within the district and this policy confirms the approach of the service for regulating animal welfare standards.
Under the draft policy all dog breeders will require a veterinary inspection upon application and renewal. The service feels that a qualified VET is the best person to inspect these types of animals for breeding activities. The Service would welcome feedback on this approach.
The majority of animal welfare legislation and guidance is determined by DEFRA, however the service can introduce a policy of who inspects specific types of establishments as this is determined locally by the Council.
We are proposing changes to the constitution which will ensure animal welfare legislation is approved and devolved correctly by the Authority. The key matter is the changes will allow the following:
- Changes to allow for investigations into any form of animal welfare matter, however we would request that members of the public contact the RSCPA in the first instance.
- Introduction of Fixed Penalty Charges for animal welfare matters.
- Ensuring the service has sufficient delegated powers to undertake day to day functions effectively.
The draft policy and draft constitution changes can be found here:
The service welcomes any comments or feedback in writing. The closing date for comments and feedback is 31 December 2025, all feedback for this consultation should be provided by email to
Feedback from the consultation will be provided to members for the April 2026 Licensing and Appeals Committee. Comments received will be published with the committee papers agenda bundle. (redacted for personal data)
