How Folkestone, Dover and Deal's councils license dog boarders
Two councils cover Folkestone, Dover and Deal for animal boarding licensing: Dover District Council, covering the Dover and Deal areas, and Folkestone & Hythe District Council, covering Folkestone, Hawkinge and Lyminge, and Hythe and Romney Marsh. Dog boarding, home boarding and day care are all licensed activities in England, so a business trading legally in either district should hold a current licence from whichever council covers its area.
Where this site's licence information comes from
The five Dover District Council entries were read directly from the council's own published register, a plain table of establishment name, star rating and expiry date at dover.gov.uk, so this site shows the council's own star rating for each of them alongside the licence number and expiry where the licence is current. The three Folkestone & Hythe District Council entries were read this round through a third-party mirror rather than confirmed as the council's own directly-run register, so no council star rating is shown for those three; the licence number and expiry date are shown instead where the licence is current.
Licence numbers, stars and expiry, where current
| Business | Council | Licence number | Stars | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowesfield Kennels and Cattery | Dover District Council | 55697 | 3 | 28 November 2026 |
| Hella's Happy Hounds | Dover District Council | 56055 | 5 | 20 March 2028 |
| Home From Home | Folkestone & Hythe District Council | LC202101-987 | not shown (mirror register) | 27 October 2028 |
| Lesleys Pet Services | Dover District Council | 54579 | 5 | 4 June 2027 |
| Spring Rise Canine Care Services | Folkestone & Hythe District Council | LC202101-737 | not shown (mirror register) | 31 March 2027 |
| Top Dogs & Tails Day Care & Boarding | Folkestone & Hythe District Council | LC202504-26856 | not shown (mirror register) | 19 May 2027 |
Two licences past their recorded expiry
Two businesses listed here, Come Stay Play and Harry's Home Boarding and Daycare, both in the Dover area, have a licence recorded on Dover District Council's own register with an expiry date that has already passed — 9 September 2026 for Come Stay Play and 4 September 2026 for Harry's Home Boarding and Daycare — so no licence number or expiry is shown for either on this site. Dover's register still gives each a star rating on the same entry, 4 stars for Come Stay Play and 4 stars for Harry's Home Boarding and Daycare, which this site shows even though the licence itself has lapsed on paper; a lapsed date on a council register does not necessarily mean a business has stopped trading, since a register is not always updated the moment a licence is renewed. Ask both directly for sight of a current, in-date licence certificate before booking.
Why the star rating matters
A council star rating is the council's own inspection score for that licence, based on a visit against national minimum standards, and it is a different thing from a customer review: it never appears on this site as a rating, only in this Council licence context. A current licence and a high star rating together give the strongest signal a public register can offer, but neither one, on its own, tells you how a specific business runs day to day, which is why the questions in this site's other guides for Folkestone, Dover and Deal matter alongside the licence details shown here.
What to do with this information
Treat the numbers, stars and dates above as a starting point, not a guarantee. Ask any business named here to show its licence certificate directly, check the expiry date yourself, and contact Dover District Council or Folkestone & Hythe District Council if you want to confirm a licence independently of this page.