What governs animals, children, disability and SEND in the UK — and what each law actually does.
If you are commissioning an animal-assisted session, arranging one in a school, or setting up as a provider yourself, it helps to know which laws are in play before anyone asks. This is a map of what exists, in plain English.
Not legal advice. I am not a lawyer. This is a reference so you know what to ask about and who to ask — check anything that matters with someone qualified, and check it against the current text, because this changes.
England unless stated. Animal welfare and education are both devolved, so Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ in places. Checked September 2026.
Section 9 creates a positive duty of care: anyone responsible for an animal must meet its five welfare needs — suitable environment, suitable diet, ability to show normal behaviour, appropriate housing with or apart from other animals, and protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
Section 11 makes it an offence to sell an animal to anyone under 16.
Licences five activities: selling animals as pets, boarding cats or dogs, hiring horses, breeding dogs, and keeping or training animals for exhibition. Star-rated and inspected by the council.
Diagnosis and treatment of animals is restricted to registered vets, with narrow exceptions for minor first aid by owners.
The main wildlife protection statute. The European hedgehog is listed on Schedule 6, which restricts the methods by which it may be killed or taken. Animals taken from the wild must not be kept or sold as pets.
Raised the maximum sentence for the worst cruelty offences under the 2006 Act from six months to five years.
Recognises animal sentience in law and creates the Animal Sentience Committee. Covers vertebrates plus decapod crustaceans and cephalopods. Binds ministers, not individuals.
Priorities to 2030, including trail hunting, snare traps, puppy farming and smuggling, with a stated shift from piecemeal legislation towards enforcement and sector support.
Prohibits certain types of dog and creates the offence of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control, including on private property. XL Bully added by order in 2023–24.
Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006; the 2006 Act applies in Wales with Welsh regulations under it; Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. Licensing regimes differ meaningfully.
Still live in other parts of the UK. You’ll see them cited in older guidance.
Licence needed to keep scheduled species. Hedgehogs are not on the schedule — but check it before ever adding an unusual species.
Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Act 2025 — closes pet travel loopholes used by low-welfare traders. Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025 — strengthened livestock worrying provisions. Microchipping regulations 2015 and 2023 — compulsory for dogs and, since 2024, cats.
Zoo licensing catches premises displaying wild animals to the public for seven or more days a year — broader than most people assume. ASPA regulates animals in research. Neither is likely to be you, but the seven-day threshold is worth remembering.
Creates the barred lists and the concept of regulated activity with children, which determines who is eligible for an enhanced DBS check and who it is an offence to engage.
Children’s data gets specific protection. A child can consent to information society services from 13; below that, parental authorisation. The ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code applies to services likely to be accessed by children.
The operational safeguarding document: designated safeguarding leads, safer recruitment, responding to disclosures, online safety, peer-on-peer abuse.
The most significant recent change here. Statutory multi-agency child protection teams, a single unique identifier for children across services, registers of children not in school, changes to attendance, academies, admissions, teacher misconduct and independent school regulation. Also provisions on children’s access to harmful online services.
Much of it was not in force at Royal Assent — check commencement for any specific provision.
Duties on user-to-user and search services to protect children from harmful content, with age assurance for some services.
The 1989 Act gives the welfare principle, parental responsibility, and duties towards children in need (s.17) and children at risk of significant harm (s.47). The 2004 Act’s section 11 requires bodies to safeguard and promote children’s welfare. Working Together is the multi-agency framework, now being reshaped by the 2026 Act.
1996 s.7: the parental duty to secure suitable education, at school or otherwise — the basis of elective home education. s.19: local authority duty where a child can’t attend. 2002 s.175: the schools safeguarding duty. Attendance orders and s.128 were changed by the 2026 Act.
Employment of children, performance licences and chaperones.
The Childcare Act and EYFS govern under-fives provision and Ofsted registration. The UNCRC isn’t directly incorporated in England; Wales has a due regard duty, Scotland incorporated it in 2024.
Defines disability at s.6. Prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, and harassment. Imposes the anticipatory duty to make reasonable adjustments on service providers. Schools have extra duties including accessibility plans; public bodies carry the Public Sector Equality Duty at s.149.
The statutory SEND system: the definition of SEN, duties to identify and assess, education health and care plans, the local offer, joint commissioning, and appeal rights to the SEND Tribunal. Unchanged by the 2026 white paper.
How the 2014 Act works in practice: SEN Support, the graduated approach of assess–plan–do–review, EHC assessment timescales, the SENCO role. Still in force in full and unaffected by the white paper until legislation changes.
Proposes a tiered support model, digital Individual Support Plans as a baseline legal plan not requiring a diagnosis, EHC plans reserved for the most complex needs, a large inclusive mainstream fund, and national inclusion standards.
None of this is law. It needs legislation, not expected before September 2029, with no changes to support delivered through existing EHC plans before September 2030 at the earliest. Wider EHCP reform runs to 2035.
The procedural detail under Part 3 — the 20-week timescale for issuing an EHC plan, required content of each section, and review requirements.
The Autism Act requires a national strategy and statutory guidance. The Care Act covers transition from children’s to adult services. The Mental Capacity Act applies from 16, including to decisions about a young person’s own EHC plan. The 2022 Act created integrated care boards, which hold the health side of joint commissioning.
Section 3 requires employers and the self-employed to conduct their undertaking so that non-employees aren’t exposed to risks. The Management Regulations 1999 require a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.
A keeper can be strictly liable for damage caused by an animal in certain circumstances, without negligence. Occupiers owe a duty to visitors, at a higher standard where children are foreseeable.
Live animals sold to consumers are goods — they must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. Also governs digital content and services, which covers the platform.
Ownership of what you produce and licensing of what you use. The status of AI-generated material is unsettled and actively contested.
Different supplies attract different treatment, and printed versus digital publications are not handled uniformly. Live animals have their own position.
Distance and online selling: pre-contract information and the 14-day cancellation right, with specified exemptions.
Certain workplace injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences must be reported to the HSE — including some infections caught from animals.
In force — currently law.
Where a law is devolved, the jurisdiction is named under its title. An Act that applies in England and Wales may have a separate equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland.