Arvada, CO Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Section 14-174, Care of animals, is Arvada's operative pet-shop standard: it makes it unlawful for any owner, manager, or employee of a pet shop, kennel, animal hospital, or shelter to fail to keep the facility sanitary, fail to provide proper heating and ventilation, fail to provide space appropriate to each animal's size, weight, and species, fail to provide adequate nutrition and veterinary care, or to release for sale, trade, or adoption any animal that isn't free of disease or injury. The section doesn't prohibit retail sale of dogs or cats outright; Arvada regulates the conditions of sale rather than banning it.

Selling is also gated by licensing: section 14-127(a) makes it unlawful to engage in the commercial business of breeding, buying, selling, trading, training, or boarding cats, dogs, or pot-bellied pigs without a kennel license from the city clerk, and even advertising an animal for sale counts as selling for commercial purposes. A kennel license requires a written inspection certificate from the animal management supervisor confirming compliance with city and state law, plus a zoning compliance certificate from the code enforcement supervisor, before the license can issue. The municipal court judge can suspend a license up to six months or revoke it if the kennel is maintained in violation of law, as a public nuisance, or in a way detrimental to the animals' health, comfort, or safety, following a hearing with a right of appeal to district court.