Tierheim: Betriebserlaubnis beantragen

Anyone keeping animals in an animal shelter or similar facility in Germany may only do so with the permission of the competent authority.

Anyone wishing to keep animals in an animal shelter or similar facility requires a permit from the competent authority.
Animal shelters are permanent, not-for-profit facilities that primarily take in pets, e.g. dogs, cats, guinea pigs, etc. due to surrender, discovery or removal.
A similar facility is deemed to exist if the meaning and purpose of the licensing requirement for animal shelters also supports the licensing requirement for these facilities. The main factor here is whether this facility performs tasks that are common to animal shelters. For example, some boarding kennels meet these criteria.
"Keeping" is assumed if the care of the animal and the duty to care for it is assumed. A keeper in the broad sense is any natural or legal person who is permanently or temporarily responsible for an animal or who actually cares for the animal.
Pets are animals that people keep, particularly in their household, for their own enjoyment and as companions or that are intended for this purpose.
Anyone who operates an animal shelter or an animal shelter-like facility without a corresponding permit is committing an administrative offense. The exercise of the activity may be prohibited by the competent authority. The authority is also authorized to close the operating and business premises.

• Written application
  Please ask the responsible authority for the application form.

• Reliability of the applicant
• Certificate of good conduct of the applicant or the person responsible
• Extract from the central trade register (for tradespeople)
• Financial basis for running a business
• Expertise of the applicant or the person responsible (if the applicant has the necessary specialist knowledge and skills due to their training or previous professional or other dealings with animals)
  The General Administrative Regulation on the Implementation of the Animal Welfare Act (AVV-TierSchG) regulates this in more detail.
• Proof of premises

Costs of EUR 25.00 to 500.00 are incurred for the permit.

Application procedure

Within 4 months, longer possible depending on the scope of the examination.

No deadlines, but mandatory before exercising the activity.

• Anyone who keeps animals in an animal shelter or similar facility in Germany may only do so with the permission of the competent authority.
• The activity may only begin once the requested permit has been granted.
• For this purpose, a written application must be submitted to the competent authority. An examination is then carried out to determine whether the necessary requirements have been met.

The veterinary and food inspection office in whose district the activity is or is to be carried out is responsible.

Please enquire at the responsible veterinary and food monitoring office.