Introduction
You must have a licence to breed dogs if you:
- breed three or more litters of puppies per year
- run a dog breeding business, regardless of the number of litters bred each year
You must be aged over 18 to apply for a dog breeding licence and must not be disqualified from keeping an animal breeding establishment or from keeping or having custody of animals.
When we get your application and inspector’s report we will arrange an inspection.
We will check licence conditions that cover:
- accommodation
- food, drink and exercise
- precautions to prevent the spread of disease
- measures in the event of an emergency
- age of the dog breeding
- number of litters allowed
- records kept at the premises
You will get a star rating for the premises, between 1 and 5. Full information about the rating system is in the DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) guidance notes. We strongly advise that you also read Guidance Notes for Breeding of Dogs.
Fees and charges
Current fees and charges can be found on our Fees and charges page.
Registers of licensed animal businesses
- View documents of licensed animal businesses in the South Somerset area.
- View the List of licensed Animal Businesses (PDF 144KB) within the Somerset West and Taunton area.
- Visit Licensing Register to see a list of registered animal businesses in the Sedgemoor area.
Report unlicensed dog breeder
If you know or suspect someone is breeding dogs without a licence, you can report it to us by using our contact us page.
We will investigate reports to check if the premises has a licence.
Apply for a licence
To apply for this licence please complete the online dog breeding application form below