Our Story

In August 2019 my family and I were on holiday, our beloved dog Jasper was placed in the care of a home dog boarder. Jasper was sadly reported missing after ‘allegedly’ running off. We were recommended this boarder, her reviews were promising and so we booked him in through her business page on Facebook. A member of the Dog Warden Department of Redcar and Cleveland council informed me on the 21/08/2019 that he had paid the boarder a visit but could not access the property due to the front gates being chained shut and her four large dogs in the front garden. As a result of this the property was never searched. It is our belief that had the council obtained access to the property, they would have seen the illegal set up. I believe It is the councils duty to investigate further given the strict licensing procedures in place. 

On reporting this incident to Redcar and Cleveland council we discovered that the dog boarder was in fact unlicensed and had been trading as a ‘legal’ business through social media and had been for the previous four years. After the council encouraged myself and my daughter to make a full statement regarding what happened we expected a prosecution for trading without a licence. The boarder was let off with a warning this came as a huge shock that there is a loophole in which it is up to the councils discretion whether it is in the public best interest to prosecute. Stated clearly on all Local Authority websites are the legal requirements dog boarders need to adhere to when setting up a business, according to the Animal Activities Licensing Regulations which came into force in October 2018. The dog boarder clearly flouted many of these regulations.

This loophole needs amending. Trading illegally, obtaining money by deception and not declaring payments to HMRC is illegal. The response from Head of Planning and Development at Redcar and Cleveland council was as follows, “Primarily the decision was taken because it was concluded that a prosecution would not have been in the public interest and, whilst I note you disagree with that assessment, it is certainly my experience over many years that is it seldom appropriate to prosecute for a first breach of the regulations in the majority of cases”.  

This  decision  has left us feeling that the licensing regulations are not worth the paper they are written on. We are left bereft, without a beloved member of our family, due to the reckless and thoughtless behaviour of an unlicensed boarder. Had procedures been in place, Jasper would still be with us today. The  law needs to change, NO business should trade illegally and get away with it.