The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021: guidance for animal rehoming activities

Annex B

Guidance on specific conditions – rehoming activities (other than in the course of operating an AWE)

1. Supply of animals

Condition: No animal of any of the following descriptions may be supplied as a pet by or on behalf of the licence holder—

a) unweaned mammals,

b) mammals weaned at an age at which they should not have been weaned,

c) non-mammals that are incapable of feeding themselves,

d) puppies, kittens, ferrets or kits, aged under 8 weeks, and

e) puppies which were not bred by the licence holder.

Guidance:

Holders of a rehoming licence must not supply a puppy (a dog under 6 months old) as a pet unless they are the breeder of the animal being supplied. Evidence of such must be provided where requested by the licensing authority or an appointed inspector. Such evidence could include records of the mating(s), including the location of mating/fertilisation, the identity of the sire (where known), being shown where the animals were or will be born, reared and kept until old enough to be supplied as a pet and other documentary/photographic evidence.

2. Protection from suffering, injury and disease

Condition: All animals supplied as pets must be in good health.

Guidance:

Licence holders must not knowingly rehome any animal that is not fit, healthy or, where applicable, socialised. Where it is clear that an animal is not in good physical or mental health it must not be rehomed. The animal must be provided with appropriate care, including veterinary care where necessary, until it is fit for rehoming. In order to meet this licence obligation the licence holder and any staff employed must be adequately trained and experienced enough to identify when an animal is unsuitable for rehoming due to ill-health, injury or another form of suffering. Procedures must be in place to deal with ill and injured animals.

Condition: Any animal with a condition which is likely to affect its quality of life must not be moved, transferred or supplied as a pet but may be moved to an isolation facility or veterinary care facility if required until the animal has recovered.

Guidance:

Licence holders should have provision on the licensed premises or at another nearby suitable facility to isolate any animal with a condition that is likely to be affecting its quality of life, either short-term or long-term. If the animal is to remain on the premises, it should be located in a suitably quiet and safe part of the premises which is readily accessible to allow for regular monitoring of its condition. Veterinary opinion should be sought where necessary, and must be sought where it is clear that the animals condition is long-term or unlikely to improve. If the animal requires to be transported to a veterinary facility then it should be done in a manner that minimises the stress on the animal.

Condition: When arranging for the receipt of animals, the licence holder must make reasonable efforts to ensure that they will be transported in a suitable manner.

Guidance:

In a suitable manner means, in a manner that ensures that animals are safe from harm, unable to escape and have both space and ventilation commensurate with the animal type and distance to be travelled. All reasonable steps should be taken to minimise the stress on animals during transportation.

Condition: When an animal is transported in or handed over in a container to the person to whom the licence holder is supplying the animal, the container must be suitable for the species and expected duration of the journey.

Guidance:

Licence holders must ensure, and demonstrate where asked to do so, that only appropriate containers, ideally designed for the purpose, are being used to transport an animal or when an animal is being transferred to its new owner or keeper. Containers used must meet the needs of the animal in terms of ventilation, temperature, light and security. Where an animal needs to stay in a container until reaching its new home consideration must be given to the animals water, food and toileting requirements where relevant.

3. Pet care and advice

Condition: Any equipment and accessories being supplied with an animal must be suitable for the animal.

Guidance:

Where applicable, licence holders must only supply new keepers of animals with equipment and accessories that are designed for and are suitable for the particular animal being supplied as a pet.

Condition: A person supplied with an animal as a pet by the licence holder must be provided with information on the appropriate care of the animal including in relation to—

a) feeding,

b) housing,

c) handling,

d) husbandry,

e) the life expectancy of its species,

f) the provision of suitable accessories, and

g) veterinary care (including details of any vaccinations and disease testing that the licence holder has arranged for the animal).

Guidance:

The licence holder must, as a minimum, provide persons being supplied with an animal with the information set out in the box above. Only suitably qualified or experienced staff should provide such advice. Pet care advice may be in the form of pet care leaflets or other similar written or electronic instructions, given at the point of handover to the person being supplied with an animal.

Ideally, any advice given by licence holders should outline the 5 Welfare Needs of Animals and make reference to an owner's legal obligations under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. Advice on microchipping should also be covered where appropriate.

If the animal being rehomed is a dog or cat then licence holders should provide advice on: microchipping or updating the microchip database registration, vaccinations, routine worming, socialisation and neutering. A transitional feeding schedule must also be provided showing the day by day ratio if dietary changes are required.

Condition: A person supplied with an animal as a pet must be informed of the country of origin of the animal and the species, and where known, the age, sex and veterinary record of the animal.

Guidance:

In order to meet this condition of licence the licence holder should ensure that they are recording this information where it is known or can be determined. Licensing authorities may seek evidence from you that this information is being recorded to enable it to be supplied to persons supplied with an animal.

4. Return of animals

The licence holder must accept return of any live animal that the licence holder has supplied to a person in the course of the licensable activity, and arrange for the collection of the animal to facilitate the return if requested by the person supplied, if—

a) the person supplied notifies the licence holder of the intention to return the animal within the 10 days following the date the animal was supplied, and

b) the animal is in a fit state to be transported.

Guidance:

Licence holders must have appropriate return procedures in place to facilitate the return of any animal that they have supplied as a pet if requested to do so within 10 days of the date of handover. Licence holders should have robust contingency measures in place to ensure that any returned animal can be speedily and safely accommodated.

Where an animal cannot be returned within the 10 day window due to it not being fit for transport, but the licence holder has been requested to accept its return within the 10 days, the licence holder must arrange for the return of the animal once the animal is fit enough to travel.

To avoid a situation where an animal needs to be returned, licence holders should take all reasonable steps to rehome animals responsibly and only rehome an animal where they are satisfied that the animal is a suitable match for the new keeper and their home situation, particularly when there are children and/or vulnerable adults in the household.

Unless circumstances dictate otherwise, licence holders should not rehome any equine, dog or cat with anyone that has not met and interacted with the animal beforehand. Ideally such interaction should be supervised by the licence holder or where appropriate suitably experienced staff. Ideally, the licence holder as part of the rehoming process will ensure interaction with the animal to be rehomed takes place in the prospective new owners premises to allow for an assessment of the environment in which the animal will be rehomed. It is recognised however that this will not always be possible or practical.