Ridgewood, NJ Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Article IX, Sale of Dogs and Cats, added by Ord. No. 3553 on October 12, 2016, restricts every pet shop operating in the Village of Ridgewood, Bergen County. Under § 105-56(A), a pet shop may offer for sale only those dogs and cats that it has obtained from, or displays in cooperation with, an animal care facility or an animal rescue organization, cutting off supply from commercial breeders and puppy mills entirely. Section 105-56(B) separately bars any pet shop from selling a dog or cat younger than eight weeks old, regardless of source.

Section 105-55 defines ANIMAL CARE FACILITY as an animal control center or shelter maintained by or under contract with a state, county or municipality whose mission includes permanent rescue and placement, and ANIMAL RESCUE ORGANIZATION as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the same rescue-and-placement mission; a KENNEL, PET SHOP OR POUND is any business harboring five or more dogs, cats or similar pets, or offering any for retail sale, excluding animal care facilities and rescue organizations. A companion provision, § 105-57, requires that no dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, dog shelter or pound leave the premises except on a leash, in a crate, or under safe control.

The article works alongside Article X's Municipal Humane Law Enforcement Officer, created by Ord. No. 3654 in 2018, who enforces animal welfare and cruelty laws under Chapter 22 of Title 4 of the New Jersey Revised Statutes in addition to municipal ordinances.