There is no national standard. A boarding licence in one state proves something quite different from a licence in the next — and in much of the country, no licence exists at all. Here is what each one we work from does and doesn't tell you.
A licence means a facility has met that jurisdiction's requirements to operate. It is not a rating, an endorsement, or a guarantee of quality — and the requirements themselves vary enormously. In most states, rabies is the only vaccine required by law; everything else is facility policy.
Boarding is not regulated federally. The Animal Welfare Act covers breeders, dealers, exhibitors and transporters — not facilities that look after animals and give them back. So each state decides for itself, and roughly a third license boarding centrally. The rest devolve it to counties and towns, or don't require a licence at all.
That fragmentation is why no complete national directory of licensed facilities exists. We build market by market, starting from whichever register that jurisdiction keeps.
| Licence | Commercial Kennel |
| Issued by | Connecticut Department of Agriculture — statewide |
| What it covers | Any place maintained for boarding or grooming dogs or cats, including veterinary hospitals that board for non-medical reasons |
| What it doesn't tell you | Whether they board overnight. A grooming-only salon holds the same licence class, so the licence alone can't distinguish the two |
| Renewal | Every two years |
| Vaccines | Rabies only, under separate state law. Everything else is facility policy |
| Useful quirk | Any commercial kennel that advertises must display its licence number in the advertisement — so you can often verify a Connecticut facility straight from its own website |
| Licence | Boarding Kennel, Class I, II or III |
| Issued by | Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, PA Department of Agriculture — statewide |
| What it covers | Establishments housing dogs for compensation by the day, week or unspecified time — explicitly including daycare, and including veterinary boarding |
| What the class means | Capacity. Class I is 1–10 dogs at any time, Class II is 11–25, Class III is 26 or more |
| Inspections | Licensed kennels are inspected at least twice a year, and inspection reports are public |
| Renewal | Annual |
| Vaccines | Rabies under state law; the rest is facility policy |
Pennsylvania is the most informative licence we work with. The class gives you facility size without asking, and the inspection history is the only public quality signal available in any of our markets.
| Licences | Kennel Operator and Day Care Operator — issued separately |
| Issued by | Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare, Illinois Department of Agriculture — statewide |
| What it covers | Kennel operators board; daycare operators provide daytime care. Many facilities hold both |
| Why that matters | Illinois is the only state we work in that separates the two services in the register. You can see a facility's service mix before contacting them — everywhere else it's a phone call |
| Renewal | Annual |
| Vaccines | Facility policy |
| Licence | Pet Boarding and/or Training, under PACFA |
| Issued by | Colorado Department of Agriculture — Pet Animal Care Facilities Act programme, statewide |
| What it covers | Boarding and training. PACFA also licenses groomers, breeders, shelters, transporters and retailers under separate categories |
| What it doesn't tell you | Whether a facility boards or only trains — the category combines them |
| Useful quirk | The register records the trading name alongside the legal entity, so a facility licensed as a holding company still shows the name on the door |
| Vaccines | Facility policy |
| Licence | Kennels |
| Issued by | Georgia Department of Agriculture — statewide |
| What it covers | A broad category taking in boarding, daycare and grooming under one licence type |
| What it doesn't tell you | Which of those a facility actually does — a mobile groomer and an overnight kennel look identical in the record |
| Useful quirk | The register records a named licence holder and a telephone number, which no other state we work with provides |
| Vaccines | Facility policy |
| Permit | Small Animal Boarding Establishment, Type B (Boarding Kennel) |
| Issued by | NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene — city, not state |
| What it covers | Facilities where three or more animals not owned by the proprietor are sheltered, maintained, groomed, exercised, fed or watered for a fee. No overnight requirement in the definition, so daycare is covered too |
| Related types | Type A is grooming, Type C is training — separate permits |
| Renewal | All permits expire 31 December, annually |
| Vaccines | Statutory, and unusual. The Administrative Code requires rabies, distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza and parvovirus within three years, and bordetella within six months, before a dog may be accepted |
New York State does not license boarding outside the city. A facility in Buffalo or Westchester operates under no boarding-specific licence at all.
We have researched but do not yet hold data for a number of other states. The pattern falls into three groups:
Massachusetts is a case worth watching: legislation passed in 2024 requires every municipality to report its licensed kennels to the state annually, which would create the first centralised list in a state that previously had none.
Even the most informative licence in this list tells you nothing about the things that decide whether a facility suits your animal:
That is why every listing here starts with the register and then asks the facility directly. The licence establishes who exists. The conversation establishes what they do.
Last reviewed August 2026 · Licensing regimes change. Where a facility's own account differs from the register, we say so on the listing.
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