Mountain View, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)

Sec. 66 requires anyone who conducts, operates or keeps a pet grooming parlor, along with a pet shop, commercial kennel, private kennel, animal menagerie, animal shelter or horse establishment, to first obtain an appropriate permit from the administrator, and to secure any applicable zoning permit before even applying. The annual permit fee is set by city council resolution or the service provider's board. Sec. 67 requires the written application to list the types and approximate numbers of animals kept on site, and lets the administrator set standards on the maximum number and species of animals, and on facility construction, sanitation and maintenance; the permittee must also keep a record of who animals were received from and sold, traded or given to.

Sec. 68 then sets the operating conditions every groomer must meet: housing must be structurally sound and escape-proof, buildings must be ventilated to remove odors and control temperature, cages and runs must be sized for the animals inside, and the facility must stay clean enough to avoid attracting flies, vermin or excessive noise. Animals must have wholesome food and potable water served in separate clean containers, and no animal may go more than 24 consecutive hours without attention. Sec. 70 gives the administrator authority to inspect the grooming parlor at any reasonable time as a condition of keeping the permit, and refusing entry is itself just cause for revocation under Sec.

68(d). A permit lasts twelve months and must be renewed the same way it was issued, per Sec. 69, and Sec. 74 makes clear the permit cannot be transferred to a new owner or location.