Clovis, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

517 regulates how dogs and cats change hands rather than banning retail sales outright. Subsection (a) sets an eight-week minimum age before any kitten or puppy can be displayed, sold, offered for sale, bartered, or given away. Subsection (b) bans that same conduct in public rights-of-way, on any public street, alley, lane, or sidewalk, or in front of a business the seller does not own, and specifically bars transactions at swap meets. Subsection (c) prohibits giving away a dog or cat as a prize or as an inducement to enter a contest, lottery, drawing, game, competition, or business arrangement, closing off the classic "win a puppy" promotion.

Subsection (d) requires written parental or guardian permission before selling, bartering, exchanging, or offering for adoption any dog or cat to a minor under 18. Subsection (e) makes any sale, adoption, or transfer that violates another provision of the animal chapter itself a violation of this section, tying the sale rule to the City's broader licensing and vaccination requirements. Subsection (f) carves out three exemptions: government agencies and IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit rescue or humane organizations incorporated under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law; permitted dog or cat shows; and permitted pet stores that sell or otherwise transfer dogs or cats, for compensation or not, within the store itself.

That last exemption is the operative answer for retail: a Clovis pet store may sell dogs and cats, but only inside its licensed premises, not curbside, at a swap meet, or as a promotional giveaway, and only once the animal has cleared the eight-week minimum age.