Okaloosa County, FL Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)

Sec. 5-72 makes it unlawful to operate a commercial animal establishment, a category that includes grooming shops alongside kennels, pet shops, riding stables, auctions, zoological parks, circuses and performing-animal exhibitions, without first obtaining a permit. Sec. 5-73 sets the annual fee schedule: a kennel housing fewer than ten dogs or cats pays $50, one housing ten to 49 pays $100, one housing 50 or more pays $200, a pet shop pays $75, and each grooming shop pays $100 per year, the same rate as a kennel of ten to 49 animals.

Every facility is licensed separately, so a business that both grooms and boards animals needs two permits under Sec. 5-73(b). The permit runs one year from issuance (Sec. 5-75) and transfers to a new owner for a $10 fee (Sec. 5-76). The county must refuse a permit if the applicant withheld or falsified information, and must refuse anyone previously convicted of animal cruelty (Sec. 5-77). A permit can be revoked for noncompliance with the article or with any animal-protection law, and a revoked operator has ten days to humanely dispose of all animals on the premises with no fee refund (Sec.

5-78). Denied applicants must wait 30 days to reapply and pay a $10 reapplication fee (Sec. 5-79). As a condition of holding the permit, the county or its agent may inspect the grooming shop and its animals at any time, and a refusal to allow inspection is itself grounds for revocation (Sec. 5-80).