UK Pet Care News: July 2026

The big change this week is a rule shift for owners of banned-type dogs, which lands on 1 July. Alongside that, the country’s biggest dog survey has just closed, tenants now have a real route to keeping a pet, and the summer heat is still worth planning around. Here is what changed at the turn of July 2026 and what it means if you own a pet or use local pet services.

Banned-breed dogs no longer need third party insurance from 1 July

From 1 July 2026, owners of XL Bully dogs and other breeds covered by the Dangerous Dogs Act no longer have to hold third party public liability insurance as a condition of their exemption. The trigger for the change was practical rather than political: the Dogs Trust Companion Club, which most exempt owners relied on, stopped offering and renewing that cover after 30 June, leaving no affordable route to comply. The government has removed the requirement so owners are not left breaking the rules through no fault of their own, though every other condition (microchipping, neutering, and muzzling and leading in public) still stands. If you own an exempt dog it is worth keeping some form of pet or household liability cover anyway, especially if a dog walker or sitter handles your dog. The official rules are on GOV.UK, and the PDSA has set out what owners should do next.

Dogs Trust National Dog Survey closes for 2026

The Dogs Trust National Dog Survey closed on Tuesday 30 June, wrapping up its annual snapshot of how the nation’s dogs are living. It is not a small exercise: over the past five years the survey has drawn more than 1.4 million responses, and the findings have fed real change, from dog food banks and a free behaviour support line to the case for letting tenants keep pets. If you took part, the results normally land later in the year as the State of the Nation report, and they tend to shape where charities put funding and which welfare issues get pushed up the agenda. Even with the survey shut, it is a useful reminder that owner-reported data is what drives a lot of the advice you will read here. Details are on the Dogs Trust survey page, with background via Companion Life.

Renters now have a right to ask for a pet

Renting with a pet has been one of the hardest parts of dog and cat ownership for years, and that changed with the Renters’ Rights Act, whose pet provisions came into force on 1 May 2026 and are now bedding in. Under the new rules a landlord must consider a written request to keep a pet, has to respond within 28 days, and cannot refuse without a reasonable justification. A clause that would have let landlords force tenants to buy pet-damage insurance was dropped from the final Act, so that cost cannot be pushed onto you either. For anyone who has held off getting a dog or cat because of a tenancy, or who is moving this summer, this is the clearest legal footing renters have had. The tenant guidance is on GOV.UK, and the NRLA has a plain-English rundown of how requests work in practice.

Summer is still here: watch pavements and ticks

After last week’s red heat warning, the seasonal risks have not gone away, and vets are still urging owners to treat hot ground and rising tick numbers seriously into July. Pavements and tarmac can hold enough heat to burn paws well into the evening, so the back-of-the-hand test before a walk is worth the five seconds it takes, and flat-faced, older and overweight dogs remain the most likely to struggle in the warmth. Ticks are also active in long grass, woodland and parks right now, so a quick check after walks helps catch them before they can pass on anything like Lyme disease. If your dog is walked in the middle of the day, it is worth agreeing cooler morning or evening slots with your walker for the rest of the summer; our guide on how to choose a dog walker covers the questions to ask about hot-weather routines. The RSPCA keeps its summer advice for dogs up to date.