San Marcos, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

32, adopted to 'promote animal welfare and encourage best practices in the purchasing of dogs, cats and rabbits offered for retail sale,' functions as San Marcos's puppy-mill sourcing ban. 040, expressly including any dealer or breeder. 030(b) backs the ban with a land-use lock: the City will not approve or issue a business license, building permit, conditional use permit or other land-use approval for any retail pet store that would engage in selling dealer- or breeder-sourced animals. 040 permits only animals from a publicly operated animal shelter, animal control enforcement agency, or a nonprofit humane society or rescue organization, meaning San Marcos pet stores are effectively adoption-only for dogs, cats and rabbits.

050 requires every compliant store to post a certificate of source on each animal's kennel, cage or enclosure, retain it on file for at least three years, and provide a copy to the buyer; the certificate must be signed under penalty of perjury. 030(c) gave existing stores sourcing from breeders or dealers as of the ordinance's effective date a six-month grace period to transition. 060 exempts animals sold directly from where they were born and reared, and shelters or rescues operating out of or alongside a retail pet store, from being treated as a regulated retail pet store.