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England dog-breeding licensing (Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018; litter/age limits)

gb_dog_breeding_licensing

gb-animal-licensing 410 tok en 2026-08-13

England's statutory guidance for local authority inspectors on licensing dog-breeding businesses, under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.

Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)

  • This guidance is for local authority inspectors in England.
  • You should read it alongside the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 ( LAIA ).
  • They must have a licence, if they do either or both of the following: breeding 3 or more litters of puppies in any 12-month period - unless they can prove that none of the puppies have been sold as puppies or adults breeding dogs and advertising a business of selling dogs - as defined under the business test Businesses need a licence regardless of the number of litters produced .
  • Required higher standards for protecting dogs from pain, suffering, injury and disease All bitches must be at least 18 months old before they are used for mating.
  • A bitch must not be mated if she is 8 years of age or older.
  • A bitch must not give birth to more than four litters of puppies in total.
  • Breeders must not permit mating of any bitch beyond her sixth litter.
  • Licence holders must not breed from stock which shows fear or aggression.
  • Bitches that have had 2 litters delivered by caesarean section must not be bred from.
  • Puppies cannot be walked so will require at least 4 opportunities to engage in play and human interaction during the day.
  • A minimum of a week’s supply of the puppies’ current diet must be included when they go to their new home.

Sources

England dog-breeding licensing (Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018; litter/age limits)
Source document: England dog-breeding licensing (Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018; litter/age limits)
UK Government (DEFRA / APHA)retrieved 2026-08-13

Verification file: pdf-parsed/gov-uk-licensing/dog_breeding.txt