Roseville, MN Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Section 501.23 is Roseville's retail pet-sale ban. Subsection (b) says no pet store shall sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction, give away, or otherwise transfer or dispose of cats or dogs. Section 501.01 defines a pet store as any retail establishment, or operator thereof, that displays, sells, delivers, offers for sale, barters, auctions, gives away, or otherwise transfers companion animals in the city, and it excludes animal control authorities, animal shelters and animal rescue organizations.

The City Council opened the section with eight findings. They cite large-scale commercial breeding facilities, documented abuses at mass breeding operations, health and behavioral problems that surface after purchase, federal and state regulation that does not properly address pet store sales of dogs and cats, and euthanasia driven by pet overpopulation. The Council also found that independent stores and large chains operate profitably on pet services and supplies, and that residents can still obtain a dog or cat directly from an animal shelter, a breed-specific rescue organization, or a breeder where the buyer can see the conditions or confer with the breeder.

Subsection (c) preserves collaboration. A pet store can offer space for shelters, rescue organizations and animal control authorities to showcase adoptable dogs and cats inside the store. Those animals must not be younger than eight weeks old, and dogs showcased for adoption must not be kept overnight at the store. Subsection (d) requires a certificate of source posted in a conspicuous place on or within three feet of each dog's or cat's kennel, cage, or enclosure. The certificate comes from an animal control authority, animal rescue organization or animal shelter and gives a brief description of the animal plus the source's name, address and telephone number. The adopter receives a copy. The store keeps certificate records for at least one year from the last date the animal appeared in the store and must make them immediately available to a peace officer, an animal control authority, or a humane agent acting for the city under Minn. Stat. § 343.06. Falsifying a certificate is itself a violation.