How Birmingham City Council licenses dog boarding and day care
Birmingham City Council licenses dog home boarding and day care across the whole city as a single authority, with no district councils sitting below it the way many other towns on this site have. Its public register is published through the animal-licensing.uk mirror rather than on the council's own site directly, so this guide labels it as a register entry (third-party mirror of the council register) rather than as the council's own register outright.
What the register shows citywide
The mirror lists 123 operators across all animal licence categories for the authority, of which 47 are dog home boarding and 2 are dog day care. It holds zero dog boarding-kennels licences anywhere in the city, which is why every business on this page is a home boarder or day care rather than a kennels. Most of the council's licensed home-boarding supply sits outside this page's six areas, further out towards Sutton Coldfield and Erdington.
Which of the six are matched to the register
| Business | Matched to the register? | Licence expiry shown |
|---|---|---|
| Fur Family Pets | Yes | October 2026 |
| Au'roar'a | Yes | May 2028 |
| Gabs Dogs | Self-reported, not matched | — |
| Bailey's Dog Care Services | Self-reported, name does not match confidently | — |
| Bow's Buddies Pet & Taxi Services | Self-reported, not matched | — |
| PetStay – West Midlands South | Not applicable — individual carers are licensed separately by their own home council | — |
Why no star rating is shown here
The mirror does carry a star rating for some Birmingham operators, but this site shows a council star rating only where it can be read from the council's own register rather than a third-party mirror of one, so no star rating is published for any Birmingham business on this page even where the mirror shows one. This is a deliberately more cautious rule than for towns where the council publishes its own register directly, and it means a Birmingham listing can look plainer than one in a town with a live council-run register, without that being any judgement on the business itself.
Why a self-reported licence is not the same as a confirmed one
Gabs Dogs, Bailey's Dog Care Services and Bow's Buddies Pet & Taxi Services each quote their own licence number or state they are licensed, but none of the three could be matched with confidence to an entry on the mirror for this page: sometimes the trading name on the register differs slightly from the name a business trades under, and sometimes no matching entry could be found at all. That does not mean any of the three is unlicensed, only that this directory could not confirm it independently, so ask to see the current certificate itself when you call. PetStay – West Midlands South sits in a different position again: as a franchise office, its individual carers are licensed separately by whichever council covers their own home address, so there is no single franchise-wide licence number to check against Birmingham's register at all.
See our guide to vaccinations, licences and what to ask for the questions worth putting to any Birmingham business regardless of what its register match shows.