How Wigan and Skelmersdale's councils license dog boarders
Wigan and Skelmersdale's nine listed dog boarders, day cares and kennels are licensed by two councils, because the page's seven areas sit either side of a borough boundary.
Wigan Council
Seven businesses — Talbot House Kennels & Cattery, Dukes Barn Farm Boarding Kennels & Cattery, Pet Getaway, Canine Companions Indoor Play Centre & Day Care for Dogs, Barking Beauties, Digs for Dogs (Wigan) and We Love Pets Wigan — are licensed by Wigan Council, covering Wigan centre, Hindley & Platt Bridge, Pemberton & Winstanley, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Orrell & Billinge and Standish & Shevington. The council publishes its own public register, most recently updated 16 September 2026, giving a star rating for every entry: Talbot House holds 3 stars, Dukes Barn Farm 1 star, Pet Getaway 5 stars, Canine Companions 1 star, Barking Beauties 2 stars, Digs for Dogs 3 stars and We Love Pets Wigan 3 stars. Each figure is shown here exactly as the register gives it, with no comparison implied between a 1-star and a 5-star licence: both are current, licensed businesses, and a lower star count reflects the council's own inspection score, not a customer opinion.
West Lancashire Borough Council
The remaining two businesses, Woofits Doggy Day Care and Upholland Luxury Kennels & Cattery, both in Skelmersdale, are licensed by West Lancashire Borough Council. Its own register file is dated 13 September 2025, over a year old at the time this page was checked, and against that file's own figures, both businesses' recorded licence expiry dates (4 February 2026 for Woofits, 25 April 2025 for Upholland) have already passed. No licence panel or star rating is shown for either business on this site as a result, whatever either states about itself elsewhere; ask each one directly whether its licence has been renewed since the file was published.
A note on the register's own data
Wigan Council's register lists Digs for Dogs (Wigan)'s postcode as BL8, and We Love Pets Wigan's licence under a Golborne & Lowton ward, neither of which matches the postcode area each franchise branch actually states it covers on its own website; this page follows each business's own stated coverage rather than the register's postcode field, and notes the mismatch here for anyone checking the register directly.
What the star rating means
Where it is shown, a council licence star rating is the result of a risk-based inspection under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, tied to how long the licence runs: a 1-star licence typically runs a year, a 5-star licence up to three. It is a government inspection score, never a customer review, and this site never mixes the two or uses the same icon for both.
What this means for you
Because West Lancashire's own file is out of date, nothing conclusive can be said here about whether Woofits or Upholland currently hold a valid licence at all; ask to see the certificate itself before booking either. For Wigan Council's seven listings, the star rating shown is read directly from the council's own current register, not a third-party mirror.