Animal Rehoming Activities

Engaging in Animal Rehoming Activities (Other Than Operating as an Animal Welfare Establishment)

Who requires a licence?

Any person or organisation that supplies animals as pets to persons in Scotland that have been sourced for that purpose from either within or outwith Scotland must, subject to a few exceptions, be licensed. An example would be a person or organisation that sources street or rescue dogs from Eastern Europe for the purposes of rehoming them with persons in Scotland. Any such person or organisation engaging in animal rehoming activities and supplying 5 or more animals as pets in any 12-month period must be licensed, unless the animal being supplied is a fish or was bred by the person supplying the animal.

How to apply:

complete an Animal Rehoming application form (Word doc, 79 KB)(opens new window);
return it via email or to the address on the application form; and
pay the appropriate fee (PDF, 107 KB)(opens new window) online at 'Pay for it' - select 'Trading Standards' then 'Animal Welfare Licence'. Please contact us to obtain your reference number.

An officer will then be in touch to discuss your application and arrange an inspection.

A veterinary surgeon will also be appointed by us to assist officers undertaking inspections in relation to licence applications. You will be invoiced separately after the inspection to recover any veterinary costs incurred.

You should note that after payment, full consideration and processing, your licence may not be granted.
The application fee will not be refunded to you even if your licence is not granted.

Licence period

The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 allow us to issue licences with a duration of one, two or three years.
In determining the duration of a licence the Council must be satisfied that the period to be granted is appropriate on the basis of its assessment of the following:

the risk of the applicant breaching the licence conditions (including any particular licence conditions to be attached to the licence by us in relation to that particular operator);