Regulations, 2024

L.N. 148 of 2024

ANIMAL WELFARE ACT

(CAP. 439)

Standards for Operating Pet Grooming Establishments

Regulations, 2024

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 7(2) of the

Animal Welfare Act, the Minister responsible for veterinary services

has made the following regulations:-

(1) The title of these regulations is the Standards for Citation, scope

and

Operating Pet Grooming Establishments, 2024.

commencement.

(2) These regulations lay down the standards for pet grooming

establishments.

(3)

Persons who are operating a pet grooming establishment

which are being used for pet grooming before the coming into force of

these regulations are being granted a transitional period of one (1) year

from the coming into force of these regulations in order to fulfil their

obligations in accordance with these regulations.

(4) Regulation 4(1) shall come into force on such date as the

Minister responsible for veterinary services may establish by means of

a notice in the Gazette.

(5) The provisions of these regulations, except those referred

to in sub-regulation (4), shall come into force within two (2) months

from their publication in the Gazette.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise Interpretation.

requires

"Act" means the Animal Welfare Act;

"Animal First Aid" means the emergency treatment

administered to an injured or sick pet animal before veterinary

care is available;

"crate" means a safe and humane containment method of

keeping and, or housing pets in the pet grooming establishment

including cages;

"Director" means the Director for Animal Welfare as

defined in the Act and includes, to the extent of the authority

given, any officer authorised by him to act on his behalf for any

purposes of these regulations;

"enclosure" means any confined space within which

animals are kept;

"person operating a pet grooming establishment" means a

person who, amongst other things, clips, trims, styles, bathes, or

dries a pet animal for financial remuneration;

"pet" means any animal kept or intended to be kept in a

household for private enjoyment and companionship;

"pet grooming" means clipping, trimming, styling, bathing,

brushing or drying a pet animal;

"pet grooming establishment" means a commercial

establishment, static or mobile, where a pet animal is brought to

the person operating a pet grooming establishment for pet

grooming but does not include the place of residence of the pet

owner.

(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, words and phrases

used in these regulations which are not defined herein shall have the

same meaning as assigned to them in the Act.

(1) No person shall operate or manage a pet grooming

establishment for the purposes of these regulations without being

registered with the Director and saving any other authorisation

required according to any law so as to be able to legally carry out the

said activity.

(2) Any person operating or managing or intending to operate

or manage a pet grooming establishment shall apply to be registered

with the Director before the carrying out of the activity

Provided that any person who is already operating a pet

grooming establishment before the coming into force of these

regulations shall, within two (2) months from the date of publication of

these regulations, apply with the Director to be registered.

(3) The Director may publish an updated list of all the

registered pet grooming establishments on the relevant website.

(4) Applications for the registration of a pet grooming

establishment shall be submitted to the Director on the prescribed form

and shall include

(a)

the applicant’s details;

(b)

the pet grooming establishment’s details;

(c) the species of animals to be groomed in the pet

grooming establishment;

(d) the details of the veterinary surgeon and, or

professional responsible for drawing up and implementing the

animal health control programme of the pet grooming

establishment registered with the Veterinary Surgeons’ Council;

(e)

the pet animals’ details;

(f)

the premises’ details

Provided that the Director may, at any time, require from

the applicant any other relevant information or additional document

which is deemed necessary for the purposes of these regulations.

(5) The registration of pet grooming establishments shall be

renewed every year from date of approval or from date of renewal.

(6) A pet grooming establishment shall have an appropriate

animal health control programme designed and implemented under the

responsibility of a professional registered with the Veterinary

Surgeons’ Council and the said programme shall be designed and

implemented in accordance with the law as in force from time to time.

(7) The Director shall conduct an inspection of the intended pet

grooming establishment before accepting a registration so as to

determine whether or not the conditions of these regulations are being

complied with

Provided that upon any renewal of the registration, the

Director may also conduct an inspection to ensure that the person

operating a pet grooming establishment is in compliance with these

regulations.

(8) If these conditions are satisfied, the Director shall register

or renew the registration for the activity

Provided that in the event that the registration or the

renewal is declined, the Director shall stipulate corrective measures as

necessary and he may suspend or prohibit the commencement or

continuation of the use of the pet grooming establishment and thereby

remove the said establishment from the register.

(9) The registration document, or a copy thereof, shall be

displayed in a prominent position in the pet grooming establishment.

(10) Any alterations to the layout of the pet grooming

establishment as accepted upon registration shall be declared to the

Director before these alterations take place and the Director shall

determine whether these alterations are acceptable or otherwise after

an inspection is carried out

Provided that if the alterations are accepted, the existing

registration document may be modified.

(11) Any person operating a pet grooming establishment who

does not comply with the conditions of the registration applied for may

have his registration suspended or revoked.

(1) A person operating a pet grooming establishment and

all personnel employed to carry out pet grooming activities shall be in

possession of a groomer’s licence issued by the Veterinary Surgeon’s

Council.

(2) Only pet grooming establishments operated by persons who

have never been convicted of cruelty to animals according to the Act

or regulations made thereunder shall be registered

Provided that if a person operating a pet grooming

establishment is convicted of any cruelty to animals according to the

Act or regulations made thereunder, the person operating a pet

grooming establishment shall have any registration according to these

regulations immediately revoked

Provided further that the person operating a pet grooming

establishment shall ensure that any person having direct contact with

animals within the pet grooming establishment has never been

convicted of cruelty to animals under the Act or regulations made

thereunder.

(3) The Director shall not accept any application for

registration from persons under the age of eighteen (18) years and no

such registration documents shall be issued or given to such persons.

(4) Any personnel, including students and trainees, shall be

supervised at all times during their practice at the pet grooming

establishment by a member of the personnel in possession of a

groomer’s licence issued by the Veterinary Surgeon’s Council.

(5) The person operating a pet grooming establishment shall

ensure that in the pet grooming establishment there is at least one (1)

person from the personnel having a certificate in Animal First Aid or

any qualification which includes animal first aid when pets are present

at the pet grooming establishment.

(1) Records of pet animals groomed shall be kept in a Animal records.

register by the person operating a pet grooming establishment and the

said records shall include, but not limited to, the following

information

(a)

the date and nature of service;

(b) the name of the pet animal and any identification

system such as microchip number, if any;

(c)

the description, breed, age and gender of animal;

(d) the name, address, telephone number and identity

card number of the owner or keeper of the pet animal.

(2) Records shall be kept for a minimum period of one (1) year

and made available to the Director during inspections or upon request.

(1) Persons operating a pet grooming establishment shall Pet grooming

ensure that all pet animals entrusted to them for grooming services are establishment.

well treated and cared for in accordance with these regulations.

(2) Pet grooming establishments shall be in good state of

repair, safe, secure, stable, durable, well-protected, comfortable and in

an escape-controlled environment.

(3) Persons operating a pet grooming establishment shall

provide crates and, or enclosures which are adequately ventilated,

made of material that can be easily cleaned and arranged so personnel

can safely see and access all areas.

(4) No person operating a pet grooming establishment shall

keep more than one (1) pet housed in a crate or enclosure, unless the

pet animals come from the same household and the pet owner consents

in writing.

(5) The person operating a pet grooming establishment shall

keep the grooming and bathing area, crate, enclosure, tub, and table,

disinfected and clean at all times.

(6) The person operating a pet grooming establishment shall

install a closed circuit television system (CCTV) to monitor and record

each grooming activity and session which takes place in the pet

grooming establishment and which shall point directly to the grooming

tables where the activity or session takes place

Provided that the retention period for the said audiovisual

recordings shall be that of ten (10) days and the said recordings shall

be made available to the Director if these are requested

Provided further that this regulation is applicable only if the

pet owner or his authorised representative are not present and do not

have full visual access at all times to the grooming session.

(1) Pet animals shall at all times be kept in an enclosure

suitable to their species in accordance with the Keeping of Dogs

Regulations with respect to construction, size, temperature, lighting,

ventilation and cleanliness except for when they are being groomed by

the person operating a pet grooming establishment.

(2) The Director may, by Government notice, issue detailed

specifications for animal enclosures in the pet grooming establishment

which shall be obligatory for operators and which may be updated

from time to time as the Director may deem fit.

(3) Crates and enclosures shall be constructed in such a way so

as to prevent the escape of animals and suitable equipment for the

capture of escaped pet animals shall be available in the pet grooming

establishment.

(4) The persons operating a pet grooming establishment shall

ensure that crates and enclosures are designed so that animals cannot

be harmed and these enclosures shall be constructed of nonporous

material or be appropriately treated, in particular

(a) all exterior wood shall be smooth and treated against

wood rot and only non-toxic products shall be used;

(b) all internal surfaces used in the construction of walls,

floors, partitions, doors and doorframes shall be durable, smooth

and impervious. There shall be no projections or rough edges

which are likely to cause injury to the pet animal.

(1) The Director may, by means of a Government notice,

issue a list with a detailed obligatory specification of animal

equipment and any other specifications, in order for a person operating

a pet grooming establishment to render a pet grooming service which

shall be updated from time to time as the Director may deem fit.

(2) The list referred to in sub-regulation (1) may be published

in the Gazette and may be made available on the relevant website.

(1) Pet grooming establishments shall have in place Emergency and

suitable emergency precautions and written procedures and these shall restraining

equipment.

be made known to all the staff, including arrangements for the

evacuation of pet animals.

(2) Every pet grooming establishment shall keep pet

restraining equipment which shall be adequate and safe should it be

required.

(3) The person operating a pet grooming establishment shall at

all times have available well-stocked Animal First Aid equipment that

cater for any accident that may arise at the establishment.

The persons operating a pet grooming establishment may Administration

only administer veterinary medication upon receiving the consent of of medicines.

the owner or that of his authorised representative and only if such

consent is given in writing and the said administration is according to

veterinary medicine laws as in force at the time.

(1) Any person who contravenes or acts in violation of Offences,

these regulations shall, on conviction, be guilty of an offence and shall punishments

and penalties.

be liable to the punishments established in article 45 of the Act.

(2) Where the Director has reasonable cause to believe that an

offence against these regulations has been committed and that it would

be appropriate to impose an administrative penalty in accordance with

the Administrative Penalties relating to Offences committed against S.L. 439.23.

the Animal Welfare Act Regulations, the Director shall proceed in

accordance with the provisions of the said regulations.

Consequential Amendment

In the Schedule to the Administrative Penalties relating to Amends the

Offences committed against the Animal Welfare Act Regulations, Administrative

Penalties

immediately after the item "Karozzini" there shall be added the relating

Offences

committed

against the

Animal Welfare

Act

Regulations.

following new item

L.N. 148 of

ꞏ Operating or managing a pet

Not more than

On first conviction, a

grooming establishment without

€1,000

person shall be liable to a

regulation 3

being registered with the

fine (multa) of not less

Directorate

than €2,000, but not

exceeding €65,000.

L.N. 148 of

ꞏ Operating a pet grooming

Not more than

establishment or carrying out pet

€1,500

On second or subsequent

conviction, a person shall

regulation 4

grooming activities in the absence

"Standards for

be liable to a fine (multa)

of adequate personnel

of not less than €5,000,

Operating Pet

L.N. 148 of

ꞏ Failure to keep adequate records

Not more than

but not exceeding

Grooming

€1,000

€100,000.".

Establishments

regulation 5

L.N. 148 of

ꞏ Inadequate enclosures

Not more than

€1,000

regulation 7

L.N. 148 of

ꞏ Inadequate administration of

Not more than

veterinary medication

€1,500

regulation 10

€0.72