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

010 makes it unlawful to erect, establish or maintain any pet shop in Livermore without first obtaining a permit from the animal control director. 030(A), the decision to grant that permit is discretionary: the director must weigh the type of construction as it relates to sanitation and how the animals will be housed, and must check the shop against whatever zoning regulations are in effect. Two conditions are absolute rather than discretionary: no permit can issue for a pet shop that fails to comply with the zoning ordinance or any other federal, state or local law, and the application must show that the shop's odor, noise, dust and drainage will not create a nuisance or hazard to the public.

040 requires an annual license fee, set by city council resolution, paid to the Administrative Services Director; the license runs the calendar year, becomes due January 1, and expires December 31 unless the underlying permit has been revoked first. 020, though not from other applicable law. The chapter does not set a citywide rule on whether a pet shop may sell live dogs or cats versus offering adoptions only; Livermore's ordinance regulates the shop's permit, sanitation and nuisance conditions rather than the species or sourcing of animals sold, so any adoption-only or retail-sale-ban policy would have to come from a different, currently unadopted, provision.