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

Section 5-72, "Permit required," bars anyone from operating a "commercial animal establishment or animal shelter" in the county without first obtaining a permit under the article's licensing scheme. Section 5-73 then sets the annual fee schedule by facility type: $50.00 for a kennel housing fewer than ten dogs or cats, $100.00 for ten to 49, $200.00 for 50 or more, and specifically $75.00 for each pet shop, alongside separate fees for riding stables, auctions, zoological parks, circuses, performing-animal exhibitions and grooming shops. Breeding kennels may elect to license animals individually rather than as a kennel, and no fee applies to a veterinary hospital, animal shelter or government-operated zoological park.

Section 5-74 requires the permit to issue once an applicant shows willingness to comply with the county's animal-establishment regulations and pays the fee, and Section 5-75 sets each permit's term at one year. Separately, Section 5-30(d) confirms that a pet shop or other business licensed in the county to sell live animals may display animals for sale outside its premises as part of a sale promotion, so long as it is not making sidewalk giveaways or unlicensed street sales, which Section 5-30(b) and (c) prohibit for any business.

The board can refuse or revoke a permit under Sections 5-77 and 5-78, and the animal control agency may inspect any permitted animal or premises under Section 5-80.