How Cambridge's councils license dog boarders
Cambridge's 20 listed dog boarders, day cares and kennels sit under three licensing councils, and each publishes a different amount of information. England's rules give every licensed premises a 1-to-5 star rating on inspection in principle, but whether that can be checked here depends entirely on which council issued the licence.
East Cambridgeshire District Council: the fullest register
East Cambridgeshire District Council licenses 11 of the 20 businesses listed here, all shown under the Ely area since the council's own register carries no address field for any entry — a business's actual area, where known, comes from its own website rather than the register. The council's register is a PDF, periodically reissued, giving a licence number, star rating and expiry date for each entry. Nine of the 11 hold a 5-star rating (Paws Doggy Day Care, Cloverleigh Dog Boarding Kennels, Mitchells Farm Boarding Kennels, Third Bridge Holiday Home for Dogs, Carol Ford Bespoke Pet Service and Gundog Training, Little Critters Pet Services, Amberlea Country Kennels & Cattery, Cosy Kennels & Cattery and Meow Bow Wow Country Hotel for Cats & Dogs), one holds 4 stars (Falkor Dog Boarding) and one holds 3 stars (Catherine Adams Pet Sitting).
South Cambridgeshire District Council: checkable, but no star field
South Cambridgeshire District Council licenses 8 of the 20 businesses, covering the Cambridge, Histon and Sawston areas. Its own register host is not reachable directly; a third-party mirror carries the same licences with a full address for each, but the mirror's summary page does not show a star rating or expiry date for any of them, so none is shown here.
Cambridge City Council: one claim that couldn't be matched
Cambridge City Council's own register, also reached only through the same third-party mirror, lists just a handful of operators for the whole city. Cambridge Paws states on its own site that it holds a Cambridge City Council licence, but no matching entry was found on the register checked for this directory — so no licence panel is shown for this listing, and it's worth asking the business directly about this before booking.
Summary
| Council | Businesses here | Public register? | Star rating shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Cambridgeshire District Council | 11 | Own PDF, periodically reissued | Yes, for all 11 (nine 5-star, one 4-star, one 3-star) |
| South Cambridgeshire District Council | 8 | Own host unreachable; a third-party mirror works | Not shown — the mirror carries no star field |
| Cambridge City Council | 1 | Same mirror; only a handful of operators listed for the whole city | Not shown — this business's claimed licence was not matched on the register |
Every licensed listing links to the register or mirror page it was checked against, marked with the month it was checked. Where nothing is shown, that reflects what could be independently checked, not a judgement on the business itself. See our vaccinations and licences guide for the questions worth asking directly.
Checking a licence yourself
For an East Cambridgeshire-licensed business, quote the licence number shown on its listing to the council directly. For a South Cambridgeshire or Cambridge City business, the same third-party mirror used for this directory is the quickest independent check, though it may not be complete for every trading name. In England, a licence typically runs for one to three years depending on the star rating awarded at inspection, so an older listing is worth a fresh check if you're unsure.