York County, VA Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)

Chapter 14's business-license tax reaches pet groomers the same way it reaches barbers or dry cleaners: Section 14-27(d) defines a 'personal service' as any service rendered for compensation upon persons, animals or personal effects not specifically covered elsewhere, and its illustrative list of repair, personal and business service occupations names 'animal hospitals, grooming services, kennels or stables' directly, alongside barber shops, laundries and janitorial services. Section 14-26(d) sets the rate for that whole class of business at thirty-six cents per $100 of gross receipts in the preceding license year, once a business's receipts exceed the $100,000 threshold set in Section 14-26's opening paragraph.

Section 14-15 makes it unlawful, and a misdemeanor, to conduct any business, trade or occupation in the county before procuring the license required under Chapter 14. This is a tax and licensing classification, not an animal-care standard: York County's Chapter 4, Animals and Fowl, separately licenses kennels for keeping multiple dogs under Sections 4-45 through 4-58, a distinct requirement tied to dog ownership rather than to running a commercial grooming or boarding business. The Code of Ordinances does not contain a dedicated chapter regulating grooming-shop sanitation, staffing or animal-handling practices; the applicable local rule is the business-license classification itself.