Lacey, WA Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Chapter 7.01 of the Lacey Municipal Code applies to any pet store in the City of Lacey. Section 7.01.010 defines a pet store as a retail establishment open to the public that offers for sale or sells animals, including dogs and cats, at retail. Section 7.01.020 opens with the words "Notwithstanding any provision in the Lacey Municipal Code to the contrary" and then bars a pet store from displaying, selling, delivering, offering for sale, bartering, auctioning, giving away or otherwise transferring or disposing of dogs or cats. Because giving away is on the list, a free transfer is covered the same way as a sale.

Section 7.01.030 lists four exemptions: a person or establishment that transfers animals bred and reared on its own premises; a publicly operated animal control facility or animal shelter; a charitable, nonprofit humane society or rescue organization that does not acquire or sell dogs and cats for profit; and a publicly operated agency, nonprofit humane society or rescue that operates out of or in connection with a pet store. Section 7.01.010 defines a rescue organization as a nonprofit with tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) whose mission is, in whole or in significant part, the rescue and placement of dogs and cats.

Section 7.01.040 lets a pet store provide space and appropriate care for animals owned by a public agency, humane society or rescue and kept at the store for adoption, but neither the store nor its owner can receive compensation from the adoptions or for use of the store in connection with adoption events. Section 7.01.050 requires records of the shelter, humane society or rescue each dog and cat came from, kept at least three years and available to a city code enforcement officer or animal control authority, plus a certificate of source label on each cage or pen. Section 7.01.060 keeps the city's right of entry into any pet store for inspection and enforcement, and section 7.01.080 lets the city seek abatement in superior court through injunctive relief and a warrant of abatement.