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Cat Breeding Laws Outside the US: A Guide to the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan

Who needs a licence, the minimum age to sell a kitten, microchipping and identification rules, and sale paperwork, country by country.

By Purry Editorial · 9 min read · Published Oct 5, 2026

Breeding in the US? Cat Breeding Laws in the US covers the federal USDA rule, state licensing and the local limits that catch people out.

There is no world standard for cat breeding. A cattery that is entirely legal in England would need a licence in Scotland, a government registration in Japan, and a SIREN number, a microchip registry entry and a signed buyer certificate in France. This guide highlights some of the rules that can change how a small cattery operates in the countries where most Purry breeders outside North America are. It is a map, not legal advice: every one of these laws has been amended in the last ten years and will be again.

For the United States, read Cat Breeding Laws in the US.

Before you breed. Breeding, animal sale and business laws change and can differ by state, province, municipality or local authority. Registry rules can be stricter than the law. Use this guide as a starting point, then confirm the current requirements with the agency that regulates animal breeding or sales where you live.

The four questions to ask in any country

  1. Do I need a licence or registration to breed or sell, and at what size?
  2. What is the minimum age a kitten may be sold or leave its mother?
  3. Must kittens be microchipped and registered before transfer, and by whom?
  4. What paperwork must I give the buyer, and what must an advertisement contain?

Everything below is organized around those four.

United Kingdom

The UK has three legal systems and they differ on the first question.

England. There is no cat breeder licence equivalent to Scotland's (the 2018 licensing regulations cover dog breeding, selling animals as pets, and boarding). Selling kittens is still subject to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and, where applicable, consumer protection law, and anyone selling animals as pets as a business may need a local authority licence; a hobbyist selling a small number of their own kittens usually does not, but frequent or commercial selling can trigger it. Microchipping became compulsory for owned cats in England in June 2024: a kitten must be chipped by 20 weeks, and in practice breeders chip before the kitten leaves.

Wales. Wales has its own animal sale and welfare regulations. Check with your local authority before breeding commercially.

Scotland. Since September 2021 anyone breeding three or more litters of kittens in a 12-month period must hold a licence from their local authority, whether or not the kittens are sold. The licence comes with inspection, record-keeping and welfare conditions. Below three litters you are unlicensed but still bound by the welfare act.

Northern Ireland. No cat breeding licence; general welfare law applies.

Across the UK, GCCF's Active and Non-Active registration status lets breeders designate whether a registered cat may be used for breeding, and GCCF's code of ethics sets 13 weeks as the minimum age a kitten should leave, with vaccinations complete. The law itself sets no minimum age for cats, so the registry's rule is the one buyers expect.

France

France has the most detailed rules in Europe, and they apply from the first kitten.

  • Selling kittens from a cat you own generally makes you an éleveur under French law. You must register for a SIREN number and declare the activity; only occasional sales of adult cats fall outside it. Check the current definition with the Ministry of Agriculture, as it has exceptions.
  • Every kitten must be identified by microchip and registered with I-CAD before transfer, and at the latest by seven months.
  • Kittens must be more than eight weeks old before sale or gift.
  • Only a cat registered with LOOF may be sold as "de race". Anything else must be described as not belonging to a breed, or as "of [breed] appearance".
  • Since October 2022, the buyer must receive a certificat d'engagement et de connaissance, stating they understand the animal's needs, at least seven days before acquiring it.
  • The breeder hands over a veterinary certificate issued within the previous three months, the LOOF pedigree (or the registration request), and the I-CAD identification.
  • Advertisements must show the I-CAD number, age, sex, birthplace, whether the kitten is LOOF-registered, and the SIREN number.

Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and most of the EU

EU rules govern cross-border movement of cats, while each country sets most of its own breeding and domestic sale rules.

  • The paperwork for a cat travelling with its owner (an EU pet passport with microchip and rabies vaccination) is not necessarily the paperwork for a kitten being sold or transported commercially to another member state. Check the animal health movement rules that apply to your kind of transfer before export.
  • Domestic rules on breeder registration, identification and minimum sale age are set by each country and differ; check your national animal welfare authority rather than assuming a neighbour's rules apply.
  • Germany: commercial breeding of vertebrates requires a permit under §11 of the Animal Welfare Act (TierSchG) from the local veterinary office. As a general administrative benchmark, cat breeding is treated as commercial at five or more reproductive cats or five or more litters a year, though the authority can look at the actual nature and scale of the activity.
  • Netherlands: since 2014 the Besluit houders van dieren bans breeding that passes on harmful traits; in practice this has been applied to folded ears (Scottish Fold) and extreme brachycephaly. Breeders selling regularly must register as a business and kittens leave at seven weeks at the earliest.
  • Belgium (Flanders): breeding Scottish Folds is banned. A breeder producing no more than two litters a year is an occasional breeder; from three litters a year the breeding establishment generally needs official recognition.
  • Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway and Denmark each set their own breeder, welfare and sale requirements. Registry rules from SVERAK, NRR and Felis Danica add requirements for registered breeders, including when kittens may leave for new homes.
  • Central and Eastern Europe: breeder registration, business, identification and welfare requirements vary by country. Registered breeders also follow their FIFe, WCF or other registry's rules, and exporting adds veterinary documentation.

Russia and Ukraine

Russia and Ukraine each have their own animal welfare, veterinary and business rules, and registered pedigree breeders also operate under their WCF or FIFe club's requirements. Exporting adds another layer: veterinary certification, identification and vaccination requirements depend on the destination country and the transport route. Breeders selling to the United States should read Bringing a Cat to the United States; the CDC does not require rabies vaccination for cats, but the airline and the destination state may.

Australia

Animal welfare is state law, and the states differ.

  • Victoria. Breeders with three or more fertile females who breed to sell generally must register with their council as a domestic animal business unless an exemption applies; members of approved applicable organisations (recognized cat bodies) are treated as recreational breeders under different thresholds. Breeders with one or two fertile females need not register as a business but still need a Pet Exchange Register source number. Every sale advertisement must carry the seller's source number and the kitten's microchip number, and kittens must be microchipped before sale.
  • New South Wales. Breeders must obtain a breeder identification number (or rehoming organisation number) and include it, plus the microchip number, in every advertisement. Microchipping before sale and by 12 weeks is compulsory, and cats sold must be registered on the NSW Pet Registry.
  • Queensland. A supply number from the Queensland Dog Breeder Register is required for dogs; cats are covered by microchipping before sale and local council animal limits.
  • Other states and territories. Breeder registration, identification, advertising and minimum age requirements vary. Check the state or territory authority before breeding or advertising kittens; your state cat council's code is the practical starting point.

Across Australia, council limits on the number of cats kept at a residential address are the rule most new breeders hit first.

New Zealand

There is no breeder licence. The Animal Welfare Act 1999 and the Code of Welfare for Companion Cats set the standards, and NZCF rules cover registration. Microchipping is not universally required for cats under national law, though local requirements may apply and it is widely recommended. NZCF's rules set when a registered kitten may leave for its new home; check the current rule on nzcf.com.

Japan

Japan has detailed requirements for commercial cat breeders and sellers.

  • Commercial breeders and sellers must register as a first-class animal handling business (第一種動物取扱業) with the prefecture before trading, with a qualified animal handling manager.
  • Kittens may not be sold or displayed for sale before 56 days (eight weeks).
  • Since June 2022, breeders and sellers must microchip every cat and register the chip before transfer; the buyer then transfers the registration.
  • Sellers must show the animal directly to the buyer and provide the required care information face to face at the registered premises. Selling purely online to a buyer who has never seen the animal is not permitted.
  • Numerical standards set staff-to-animal ratios, cage sizes, and limits on breeding age and frequency for cats.

The face-to-face requirement also affects how Japanese breeders arrange overseas sales.

What does not change anywhere

  • Contracts. Nothing in these laws replaces a written sale contract: price, breeding rights, spay/neuter, health guarantee, return policy, who pays transport.
  • Taxes. Whether a small cattery is a hobby or a business, and when income must be reported, varies by country. Check the tax and business registration rules before the first sale and keep records from the first deposit.
  • Registry codes of ethics. GCCF, FIFe, WCF, ANCATS, NZCF and JCC each have one, and they are enforced by the registry even where the law is silent. Breaking them can cost your registration, which costs you buyers.

A checklist before your first litter

  1. Does my country or state license breeders, and at what threshold? (Scotland: three litters in 12 months. Japan: commercial sale. Victoria: three fertile females breeding to sell, unless exempt. France: meeting the breeder definition, which most kitten sellers do.)
  2. What is the minimum age to sell, by law and by my registry?
  3. Who must microchip and register, and before what point?
  4. What must my advertisement contain? (France, NSW and Victoria require identification numbers in the ad.)
  5. What paperwork does the buyer get? (Vet certificate, pedigree, microchip transfer, and in France the certificat d'engagement et de connaissance.)
  6. Am I registered as a business for tax?
  7. If I export: which official veterinary certificate does my country issue, and what does the destination require?

Laws change with every session of every legislature. Before you sell your first kitten, check the current rule with the agency that enforces it.

Sources

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