Jacksonville Beach, FL Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Section 5-42 is Jacksonville Beach's puppy-mill ordinance, in Chapter 5, Article II, Division 5 (Commercial Animal Establishments). Subsection (1)a restricts retail sales: effective August 17, 2015, no pet dealer, pet store, or pet store operator can display, sell, trade, deliver, barter, lease, rent, auction, transfer, offer for sale or transfer, give away or otherwise dispose of dogs and cats in the city except as the section provides. Subsection (1)b says no pet mills shall be permitted to operate in the city. Subsection (1)c bans retail sales of dogs or cats on any public thoroughfare, public common areas, flea markets, festivals, yard sales, medians, parks, recreation areas, outdoor markets, parking lots, or similar locations, regardless of whether the owner authorizes access. That ban does not apply to an animal shelter, an animal rescue organization, or a city permitted sale or adoption event.

The definitions in § 5-2 give the terms their reach. A pet store is a pet shop, pet groomer, pet beauty parlor, or other retail establishment, including mobile businesses and brick and mortar stores. Retail sale includes display, offer for sale, offer for adoption, barter, auction, give away, or other transfer. A pet mill is a facility where cats or dogs are bred for selling and one of the listed conditions exists, such as more than 20 dogs under the age of 12 weeks or more than 20 cats under the age of 16 weeks kept at a single time, or a single female bred more than five times in her lifetime.

Subsection (2) exempts an animal shelter, an animal rescue organization, one operating out of a pet store, an animal hospital or veterinarian's office, a pet store dealing only in pets other than cats or dogs, a pet store that houses shelter or rescue animals for adoption, and hobby breeders.

A pet dealer or pet shop that obtains dogs or cats from a permitted source must post on each cage the source's name and address and the date, a copy of a notarized affidavit of verification, and a description of the animal, and must give the purchaser a copy of the certificate of source (§ 5-42(3)). Citations are heard by the special magistrate under Chapter 2, Article VI.