Chicopee, MA Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)

In the City of Chicopee, Massachusetts, grooming shops appear in the permit fee list of § 144-2 of Chapter 144, Dogs and Other Animals, adopted by the City Council on 10-6-2015 by Ord. No. 15-52. Subsection F(7) sets the annual permit for each grooming shop at $50. The same list charges $50, $75 or $100 for a kennel depending on how many dogs it is authorized to house, $100 for a zoological park, $125 for a circus and $50 for a performing animal exhibition.

Permits are issued after inspection by the proper authority once the applicant shows he is willing and able to comply with the City's regulations, which must include requirements for humane care of all animals. The permit period begins April 1 and runs for one year. Renewal applications are made 30 days prior to and up to 30 days after April 1, and a new facility can apply at any time. A new owner can have the current permit transferred to his name for a $25 fee. Every facility at a different address is a separate enterprise and needs an individual permit. No fee is required of any veterinary hospital, clinic, animal shelter or government-operated facility.

One drafting point: the definition of commercial animal establishment in § 144-1 lists pet shops, auctions, riding schools or stables, zoological parks, circuses, performing animal exhibitions and kennels, and does not name grooming shops. The fee list in § 144-2(F)(7) is the provision that prices a grooming shop permit.

Under § 144-3, every permit is conditioned on inspection: the City or its designated agents, or the inspector of animals, must be permitted to inspect all animals and the premises where animals are kept at any time, and if permission is refused the agent seeks a search warrant. A person convicted of cruelty to animals cannot be issued a permit to operate a commercial animal establishment for five years.