How Cheltenham's council licenses dog boarders
Cheltenham and the north Cotswolds sit across three licensing authorities, and each runs its register a different way. Home boarding, day care and boarding kennels are all licensed activities in England, and where a council has issued a star rating it runs from one to five — this is the council's own inspection score, shown here as a "council licence rating," and is not the same thing as a customer review, so it is never mixed with review stars on a listing.
| Council | Covers | Format | Businesses here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham Borough Council | Cheltenham centre, Cheltenham west, most of Prestbury and Bishops Cleeve, Charlton Kings and Leckhampton | Live public web page, licence reference, capacity and star rating; no addresses shown | 20 |
| Tewkesbury Borough Council | Bishops Cleeve/Woodmancote corner of Prestbury and Bishops Cleeve | Live public web page, trading and licence-holder name, star rating and expiry; borough-wide, no addresses; most of its rows fall outside this town | 3 |
| Cotswold District Council | Bourton-on-the-Water/Stow-on-the-Wold, Chipping Campden, Moreton-in-Marsh | No address-bearing register; only an opt-in contact-list PDF with no local dog businesses on it | 3 (none matched) |
What the register does and doesn't show
For the twenty-three businesses licensed by Cheltenham or Tewkesbury, the licence reference, licence type and star rating on each listing come directly from that council's own register, checked in September 2026. Neither register publishes a street address, so every address you see elsewhere for these businesses came from the business's own site or Facebook page, not the council. Where a business's own site quotes a different star figure to the register — Cheltenham Borough Council's register is treated as the source shown here.
The three that could not be checked
The Cotswold Pet Companion, Longhills Farm Boarding Kennels & Cattery and Passion Grooms all fall under Cotswold District Council, which publishes no address-bearing public register at all; only an opt-in "Animal – Public Contact List" with no dog boarding or day-care business from this town on it. All three carry no licence block on their listing as a result, even though two of them state "licensed" on their own website. That is the business's own claim, not a confirmed register entry, so ask to see the licence certificate directly, or ask Cotswold District Council whether a newer licence has since been added.
What a star rating means here
A council licence rating reflects the council's own inspection, covering things like space, record-keeping and animal welfare standards, not customer experience. Ratings recorded across this town's businesses range from three to five stars. A lower rating does not mean a business is unsafe to use, and this directory does not rank or hide businesses by their council rating; it is one fact among several worth weighing up, alongside a direct conversation with the business itself.