22/02/2025
Cattery Closures - Questions
Following our article Cattery Closures there have been numerous questions asked as to why catteries that have been closed down did not apply to be registered as a Zoological Centre.
We do not comment on other catteries, but I think it might be helpful if I take you through our experience which was a long and costly drawn out experience and It could be that within that experience lies the answer.
We first looked at buying an older rural property that had sufficient land to build our cattery, but quickly ran into the long standing restriction of only being allowed to build on 2% of the land. We then searched for land and needed to buy a minimum 12,000 square meters for the house and cattery.
Having purchased the land and complied with all requirements set down by the Valencia Regional Government, local planning department and all the other various departments in obtaining all the permissions and licensing which together involved endless paperwork, the final step was to obtain the Zoological Nuclei inspection which our cattery The Cats Whiskers passed with flying colours whereas with some applications it has been a matter of a complete restructure to meet requirements.
Once registered as a Zoological Centre documents received include the most important Zoological Nuclei Registration Number which is the identification number issued to every registered cattery confirming they are legal. For those having any concern regards legality this registration number should be available upon request so that it can be checked. Because of the anxiety and disappointments caused by closures we have now decided to display our Zoological Nuclei Registration Number in our reception area.
The downside to the registration is, you guessed it, continuous ongoing paperwork which requires the daily completion of information including a log which has to record every cats details, chip number, date of arrival, date of departure, etc, etc; during their boarding period.
Having served in an advisory capacity to our local licensing authority in the UK, this whole experience has been very frustrating from beginning to end and we came very close not to continue.
Hope this helps