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

Milpitas Municipal Code § V-210-9.14 confines animal sales, exchanges and giveaways to four permitted facility types, plus private residences, and expressly carves out City-permitted animal adoption organizations from the restriction. Section V-210-11.01 backs that up on the operator side: no person may conduct, operate or keep a pet shop, commercial kennel, animal shelter or horse establishment in the City without first obtaining an animal facility permit from the Administrator. The application (§ V-210-11.05) must list every type and number of animal kept on-site, and carries a nonrefundable $50 application fee (§ V-210-11.06).

Permits run twelve months from issuance and renew on the same terms as an original application (§ V-210-11.07); missing the renewal deadline adds a $20 late fee on top of the application fee (§ V-210-11.09). Permits are nontransferable (§ V-210-11.02), so a change of ownership requires a fresh application. As a condition of holding a permit, the facility must stay open to inspection by anyone the City authorizes under Chapter 210, without notice during normal business hours and with reasonable notice at other times (§ V-210-11.08).

Section V-210-11.04 also bars issuing or renewing a permit for a commercial kennel or animal shelter within 250 feet of any dwelling, apartment, hotel or other building used for human habitation, unless the Administrator finds the proximity will not disturb residents with excessive noise or odors. A separate rebuttable-presumption rule (§ V-210-11.03) treats maintaining more than two breeding males or producing more than two litters a year as commercial breeding, pulling a backyard operation into the same permit requirement as a commercial kennel. Santa Clara County Animal Services enforces animal-related provisions under the City's animal-control contract.