Fountain, CO Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Pet store ban
- No dog/cat sale, display or giveaway
- Grandfather exception
- Stores operating before the 2011 ordinance
- Public-place sale ban
- Streets, sidewalks, parks, flea markets
- Rescue exemption
- Licensed shelters and rescue groups
- First-conviction fine (§6.08.090)
- $200 minimum
- Governing section
- Fountain Municipal Code § 6.08.100
Summary
Fountain bans pet stores from selling, displaying for sale, or giving away dogs or cats within city limits under Section 6.08.100, exempting only pet stores that were already operating before the ban took effect and rescue groups, shelters or humane societies using a pet store's space.
Except for pet stores operating within the city limits prior to the effective date of the ordinance from which this section is derived, no pet store operator or pet store shall display, sell, deliver, offer for sale or adoption, barter, auction, or give away a dog or cat in the city, provided that this prohibition does not apply to organizations, such as animal rescue groups, animal shelters or humane societies, licensed by the state who are using the premises of a pet store.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 3).
Full Breakdown
100 flatly bans a pet store or pet store operator from displaying, selling, delivering, offering for sale or adoption, bartering, auctioning, or giving away a dog or cat anywhere in the city. The only exemption is for a pet store already operating in Fountain before the ban's effective date, adopted by Ordinance No. 1535 in 2011 and refined by Ordinance No. 1555 in 2012 and Ordinance No. 1576 in 2013, and for licensed animal rescue groups, shelters or humane societies using a pet store's premises to hold adoption events.
090 stops anyone, pet store or not, from selling or giving away a dog or cat in a public place such as a street, sidewalk, park, parking lot or flea market, with the same rescue-group carve-out. 120 to drop the sections on rabbits, rodents, birds and reptiles since Fountain's own chapter targets dogs and cats specifically. 150, and can get a municipal court search warrant if an operator refuses access.
Violations & Fines
Violating Section 6.08.090 or the adopted state pet dealer rules carries an escalating fine schedule under Section 6.08.160: a minimum $200 fine for a first conviction, $350 for a second, and $500 for a third or later conviction, on top of the general penalty in Section 1.12.010. Any other violation of the chapter, including the flat pet-store sale ban in Section 6.08.100, is punished under Section 1.12.010's standard municipal penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a pet store in Fountain, Colorado sell puppies or kittens?
Can I buy a dog from a breeder directly in Fountain?
Can someone sell a dog or cat at a flea market or from a parking lot in Fountain?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fountain
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