What regulates a pet business website
Three layers. Animal welfare licensing, which in many places applies to boarding, daycare, catteries, breeding and selling animals, and often expects the licence to be displayed. Professional rules for vets, whose advertising is governed by a professional body. And the laws that apply to any website: consumer law on prices and cancellation, privacy and cookies, accessibility, and company details. Groomers, walkers and trainers are lightly regulated in most places, so for them it is mostly the third layer. This is orientation, not legal advice; your licensing authority, professional body and a local adviser are the authorities.
United Kingdom
Licensing and display: in England, the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018 license dog boarding kennels, home boarding, dog daycare and catteries, along with breeding and selling animals; the local authority issues a licence with a star rating, and it should be displayed where owners look. Scotland and Wales have their own arrangements. Grooming, walking and training are not licensed under that regime, though local rules on the number of dogs walked together exist in places.
Vets: the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct governs practice advertising and what may be claimed; practitioner registration displayed; prescription medicines are not advertised to the public.
Consumer law: the Consumer Rights Act on services; the Consumer Contracts Regulations give cancellation rights for services booked online, with the information you must give at booking; the rules on misleading claims and drip pricing. Prices stated inclusive of VAT.
Company details: a limited company's registered name, number and office on the site; a sole trader's trading name and address.
Privacy and cookies: UK GDPR and PECR; a privacy notice covering the owner data and health records the booking collects; ICO registration for most.
Accessibility: Equality Act; WCAG 2.1 AA.
United States
Licensing and display: mostly state and local. Kennel and boarding licences are issued by states, counties or cities and vary widely; some require the licence number in advertising, many do not. Federal Animal Welfare Act licensing through the USDA applies mainly to breeders, dealers and exhibitors rather than a typical daycare or groomer. Grooming is unlicensed in most states.
Vets: state veterinary medical boards regulate advertising and the veterinarian-client-patient relationship, which shapes what a website can offer remotely. Practitioner licences displayed.
Consumer law: the FTC on deceptive advertising; state consumer protection acts; clear cancellation and deposit terms at booking.
Privacy and cookies: state privacy laws (California and others) for businesses over their thresholds; no federal cookie consent; TCPA consent rules if you send marketing texts, which matters for rebooking reminders.
Accessibility: ADA applied to websites through litigation; WCAG 2.1 AA the standard.
Canada
Licensing and display: municipal and sometimes provincial. Kennel licences are usually municipal, with animal care standards set provincially; display requirements vary.
Vets: provincial veterinary colleges (Ontario's, for example) regulate practice advertising and telemedicine; registration displayed.
Consumer law: provincial consumer protection acts, with Quebec's the strictest on pricing and contracts; misleading advertising under the Competition Act. Quebec requires French on sites serving Quebec.
Privacy and cookies: PIPEDA; Quebec's Law 25 with consent and policy requirements; CASL consent for marketing email and text, including reminder campaigns.
Accessibility: AODA in Ontario; the Accessible Canada Act federally.
Australia
Licensing and display: state and territory. Boarding establishments follow state codes of practice (Victoria and New South Wales both publish one) and usually register with the local council; display of registration where required. Grooming and walking are largely unlicensed; some councils limit dogs walked per person.
Vets: state veterinary boards regulate advertising and registration; registration displayed.
Consumer law: the Australian Consumer Law on misleading conduct, consumer guarantees and unfair contract terms in your booking terms.
Privacy and cookies: the Privacy Act for businesses over the threshold; a privacy policy expected regardless if your forms collect personal data; the Spam Act for marketing email and text.
Accessibility: Disability Discrimination Act; WCAG 2.1 AA.
European Union
Licensing and display: national. Germany, for instance, requires a permit under its animal welfare law for commercial boarding and for dog training, and the permit is commonly shown; other member states register boarding and breeding variously.
Vets: national veterinary chambers regulate advertising; registration displayed; medicines advertising to the public restricted.
Consumer law: the Consumer Rights Directive gives information duties and a withdrawal right for services booked online, with exceptions for a date-specific service once agreed; the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive on claims; prices inclusive of VAT.
Company details: the E-Commerce Directive's information duties, strictest in the German and Austrian Impressum tradition: legal name, address, contact, registration and VAT numbers.
Privacy and cookies: GDPR and ePrivacy consent, with vaccination records treated as personal data about the owner.
Accessibility: the European Accessibility Act from June 2025 for many digital services above the micro-enterprise threshold.
What is the same everywhere
- Display your licence, registration or inspection rating where your kind of business has one, and link it where a public register exists.
- Vets keep claims within the professional code and show registration.
- Do not claim qualifications, memberships or insurance you do not hold.
- State prices honestly, including tax, and put cancellation and deposit terms at the point of booking.
- Publish company details and a privacy notice that covers the booking platform's records.
- Get proper consent before marketing texts and emails, including rebooking reminders.
- Build to WCAG 2.1 AA.
Where this sits
Every pet business website we build runs a country checklist at the content stage covering licence display, vet advertising, price and cancellation statements, company details, privacy and cookies, marketing consent and accessibility, with the sub-page for your kind of business (daycare and boarding, catteries, vets, groomers) noting where the rules bite hardest. The licence and qualifications displayed where owners look satisfy most of the display rules on their own, which is one reason they are on every page.