# £2780 p.a. for DWA licence!!!



## pumpkinette

I have been looking into how to obtain a DWA licence. I couldn't believe the price difference that Newport, South Wales, has compared to other parts of the country. Another rfuk member from Cardiff told me that Newport charge £3000 a year and yep, another rfuk member who lives here has been told by our council that it's £2780 per year!!! 

I am outraged!! It is no doubt that high to line fat cats pockets as it is to deter people from keeping beautiful, if more dangerous examples!!

I have been told that it's only £65 a year in Shropshire! How can this fee be justified?

Maybe if others were also to contact Trading Standards, as I am going to do, and Newport Council, then maybe something could be changed! There will also be a letter in the post from me to our local newspaper!

Thank you for listening to my rant
An annoyed Leanne :censor:


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## Moshpitviper

It is sometimes possible to get the council to significantly reduce the fee. my council weren't prepared to but did offer me a PSL instead at the cost of £110 pa

thats when it got complicated. i wont go into it.


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## pumpkinette

Don't want a PSL though :lolsign:

Is unfair!


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## SiUK

you could go for a petshop license they are not as restrictive as a DWA


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## SWMorelia

Newport even tries to stop pet shops adding them to licences. But when challenged about this they retracted, they still haven't added it to the licence as of yet. Trading standards will need a list of prices that other authorities charge. 
MIKE


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## weelad

SiUK said:


> you could go for a petshop license they are not as restrictive as a DWA


wouldnt you need a pet shop for that lol?


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## Athravan

You don't need a pet shop to have a pet shop license, my county has however recently started stating that unless the DWA animals are listed on your pet shop license you cannot keep them, it is not a blanket coverall and I suppose this has come about because of the amount of people applying for a PSL instead of a DWA (as it's half the price here and 10x easier to get a PSL than a DWA)

I don't know if Newport is the same.


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## macro junkie

thats a joke..and they wonder why people think "screw that" i dont need a licence..


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## BarryScott

Yeah, those poxy corporate "fat cats"... who also part time for less than £20k for the local council (by nature a not-for-profit organisation)...???

Next - does that figure include the vets fees too? Are you comparing like for like fees?


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## lukendaniel

with our council dwa ia under £200 and a psl is just over £100



luke


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## cat_hendry

My question... and please forgive me if i sound dense.... wouldnt you actually need to be selling things to get a PSL?? how can an ordinary hobbyist get one?


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## danjwright

I think it's illegal for local councils to say that you need to have a separate DWAL if you want to keep DWAs on a pet shop licence.
"The provisions of this Act shell not apply to any dangerous wild animals kept in... premesis licenced as a pet shop under the Pet Animals Act 1951"- DWA Act.
Therefore, pet shop license holders are exempt from the act altogeter if they keep their DWAs in the licensed pet shop. By the terms of the act, a council might as well say that a zoo needs a DWAL alongside their zoo license, which of course is stupid!
So if your council seized your DWAs if you were keeping them under a pet shop license, you'd have a pretty strong case if you appealed.


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## Athravan

My council states that you can ONLY keep the animals specified on a license. I don't know where the law is for this, but there are quantity and specified things. Ie. it says "Snakes - 500", Lizards - 200, etc. and if I was allowed to keep Venemous, it would say "Venemous Snakes - 2" depending on the viv space I have. They check every year that we're not exceeding quantities, or that we don't have any animals not allowed - ie. i'm licensed to keep reptiles. I cant suddenly start selling live mice without updating my license, it's illegal for me to sell mammals as they're not on there. It's a different category. Venemous snakes are a different category to snakes. If you have a license that does not state a quantity of venemous snakes then you are not licensed to keep venemous snakes - that's how my council intereprets it.


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## mark elliott

just applying for mine and in the first instance its 215 quid but then its 88 quid to re new every year


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## weelad

mine would be somthing like 25 quid :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## danjwright

Athravan said:


> My council states that you can ONLY keep the animals specified on a license. I don't know where the law is for this, but there are quantity and specified things. Ie. it says "Snakes - 500", Lizards - 200, etc. and if I was allowed to keep Venemous, it would say "Venemous Snakes - 2" depending on the viv space I have. They check every year that we're not exceeding quantities, or that we don't have any animals not allowed - ie. i'm licensed to keep reptiles. I cant suddenly start selling live mice without updating my license, it's illegal for me to sell mammals as they're not on there. It's a different category. Venemous snakes are a different category to snakes. If you have a license that does not state a quantity of venemous snakes then you are not licensed to keep venemous snakes - that's how my council intereprets it.


Yer, I reckon the act gives councils a bit to much freedom. Some councils just say no to every DWA application without even looking at where the animal would be kept. I think there should be very specific rules to be followed for each species; then it would be harder for councils to say 'no' for no reason and just out of ignorance.


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## Snakes r grreat

Might be worth having a look here. http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/dwa-species/51473-dwa-prices-county-2006-a.html


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## Fangio

danjwright said:


> Yer, I reckon the act gives councils a bit to much freedom. Some councils just say no to every DWA application without even looking at where the animal would be kept. I think there should be very specific rules to be followed for each species; then it would be harder for councils to say 'no' for no reason and just out of ignorance.


It's illegal for a council to refuse you a license provided you can meet the terms of the Act. At least one council has been sucessfully taken to court over refusing to issue a license in their area (I forget which council it was or when now though).


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## bigsky

something insane like 28 quid here hahahaaha

Lloyd


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## llonen

Looks like about £50 or abouts plus vets fees for the Isle of Wight, its something I'm going to be seriously looking into in the not too distant future.


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## Triangulum

*fife council Vets Fee + 10%*

Whats ment by this? That i Dont Have To Pay Anything Annually? Just A One Of Payment at the beginning of every year when the vet comes out? And then 10% extra from the vet fee? Take it, this is one of the best areas?


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## VieT

2 tired to read the whole thing...

but mke sure ur checking the right council..

i checked both derby and nottingham county council... both were over £2000 .. but when i checked my area council (erewash) its only around £200.. its to stop some muppet having a king cobra in a flat in town center  (example)

peace

James


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## fangsy

Mine is £25 ....


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## Cowboy-74

OK if you had a PSL would a shop sell you an animal that required a DWA or would you just use the same supplier (trade) as the shop that has the aniaml you want?


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## SiUK

Cowboy-74 said:


> OK if you had a PSL would a shop sell you an animal that required a DWA or would you just use the same supplier (trade) as the shop that has the aniaml you want?


as long as you had a copy of your PSL and it stated you could keep DWA then you would be fine regardless of who you bought from obviously pet shop prices are gonna be more than trade.


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## Cowboy-74

SiUK said:


> as long as you had a copy of your PSL and it stated you could keep DWA then you would be fine regardless of who you bought from obviously pet shop prices are gonna be more than trade.


Am I right in thinking that your PSL license would state that you were selling dogs, fish or reptiles for example. The legislation states that u need to keep a register of animals purchased and sold. but you would not have a PSL that states you can buy and sell DWA animals.

so you get a PSL for a reptile selling pet shop, then you can get what you want as long as you have the register up to date at all times for inspection.

I googled some info from a few councils; it wont let me copy and paste but it says just keep the species contained in the DWAA on a register which can be cross referenced to an invoice file, the purposes of the regidster is to asscertain the source of livestock and for emergemcy contact of purchaser, the name, addres and phone number of the purchaser should be obtained and kept on file.

section 4.1.4 of pet shop license conditions


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## ChrisBowman

anyone now how much a dwa is in wakefield


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## Cowboy-74

bowie1125 said:


> anyone now how much a dwa is in wakefield


there is alist of council charges 2006 somewhere on the dwa species page, not sure how many councils may have upped there charge by now though


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## MrKing

From £65 to £3000 - I am confused, it sounds like the councils just make there own prices up :bash:


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## SiUK

MrKing said:


> From £65 to £3000 - I am confused, it sounds like the councils just make there own prices up :bash:


yeh they do


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## davehuston

SiUK said:


> yeh they do


Basta*ds!


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