Dearborn County, IN Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)

Chapter 90 of the Dearborn County Code has no grooming-specific section. Pet grooming is regulated because Section 90.02 defines COMMERCIAL ANIMAL ESTABLISHMENT to mean any pet shop, auction, flea market, riding school or stable, pet grooming shop, zoological park, circus, kennel, or veterinary hospital, and § 90.22(A)(8)(h) repeats pet grooming shop in its list of establishments. Every standard in § 90.22 therefore reaches a groomer.

The location rule is in § 90.22(A)(9): all commercial animal establishments, other than a circus temporarily located within Dearborn County for less than ten days per year, must be located at a permanent building or facility and be permitted at that location by the applicable zoning laws. A mobile or home-based groomer therefore depends on county zoning approval for the site, and the zoning text sits in the Zoning Ordinance, which is separate from Chapter 90.

The operating standards also apply. The establishment must not constitute a public nuisance, must provide an isolation area for sick or diseased animals, must keep all animals caged, within a secure enclosure or under the control of the owner at all times, and must provide each animal with sufficient space to stand up, lie down and turn around without touching the sides or top of the enclosure. Under § 90.22(A)(6) the establishment must permit the animal control officer to inspect, at any and all times, the premises where the animals are kept.

The chapter prints no grooming license fee, no training requirement and no grooming-specific equipment standard. The only fee schedule in the animal chapter, in § 90.36, covers dog licenses, duplicates and a $200 yearly kennel license, not groomers.