Council leads the way on animal welfare

Horsham District Council is one of the first councils to adopt a new environmental health rating scheme for local businesses associated with the care and sale of animals.

The star rating system is part of new regulations aimed at protecting the welfare of animals and providing a more informed choice about animal establishments and service providers for owners and customers.

Businesses and individuals affected by the new regulations will be those involved in dog and cat boarding, dog breeding, the selling of animals as pets, and the hiring out of horses for riding or for riding lessons.  Anyone involved in the keeping or training of animals for exhibition also needs to register with Horsham District Council under the new scheme.

The Council hosted a launch event for the new scheme at its offices in Horsham recently, introducing a new animal licence tool called Paws on the Doors. This online tool enables animal licence holders, and people looking for animal services, to easily list themselves or search for top-rated service providers in the Horsham District.

The scheme helps pet lovers to make informed decisions when selecting a whole host of  pet services. Rather than rely on word of mouth, the scheme’s website helps consumers to search across council boundaries, check that operators are legitimately licensed and find out what star rating they have.

The information on the Paws on the Doors website is provided directly from Environmental Health & Licensing departments in local councils.

Horsham District Council Director of Communities Paul Anderson commented:

We are delighted to be one of the first councils to adopt of this innovative Paws on the Doors scheme which will go a long way to reassuring pet owners in our District.

I am sure the scheme will help improve animal welfare locally and I am really pleased that we are partnering with the extensive expertise of the Paws on the Doors team to deliver this service.

Paul Hiscoe, Managing Director of Animal Insight who operate Paws on the Doors said:

We are in active dialogue with many councils who are very enthusiastic about this new initiative and we expect to see a rapid adoption over the coming weeks and months.

The site currently has data from four local authorities including Horsham. As was the case with Scores on the Doors for food hygiene, the benefits to the consumer grow exponentially as the coverage area expands.

Lizzie Keogh owner of Horsham-based Nutwood Cattery added:

I think it is extremely reassuring for pet owners to know where to go to check out the standards of animal care establishments in our local area.

I am really pleased that Horsham District Council is so involved in this new scheme which will go far to ensure that the best possible standards are adhered to.

Many more councils will be adding their data to the site over the coming weeks and months as the scheme rolls out across England.

Paws on the Doors comes from the same company that launched the Scores on the Doors star rating scheme for eating establishments some years ago. The launch of this platform transformed food hygiene compliance, drastically reducing the number of unregistered food businesses and improving hygiene levels for the benefit of customers choosing places to eat and buy their food.

In 2018 the Government introduced licensing regulations, and a star rating scheme for animal establishments. These included breeders, kennels, dog sitters, catteries, horses and exhibition animals.