Sherman, TX Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Section 2.02.028 of the Sherman Code of Ordinances turns retail dog and cat sales into an adoption-style business. It is unlawful to operate a pet shop without first obtaining a license from animal services, and the code defines a pet shop as a business establishment, whether licensed or not, where dogs and cats are sold, offered for sale, bartered, traded, given away, or otherwise transferred. Under subsection (c), no owner, operator, manager, or employee can sell, lease, offer for sale, trade, give away, or otherwise transfer a cat or dog unless it was obtained from a government-owned or -operated animal shelter, an animal control agency, or an animal rescue organization licensed by animal services. A shop that was operating the day before the effective date of the ordinance that established the section, and has not ceased operation for seven (7) days or more, has an affirmative defense.

Every cat or dog offered for sale must be sterilized by a licensed veterinarian and implanted with a registered microchip, and no kitten or puppy under eight (8) weeks of age can be offered. Shops must immunize cats and dogs against common disease, check and treat them for parasites, isolate sick animals and have a licensed veterinarian check them on the day the need is discovered, and take cats and dogs out of primary enclosures at least twice during each 24-hour period unless the enclosure is large enough for exercise. Enclosure debris and fecal matter must be removed at least once every twenty-four (24) hours. The shelter, control agency, or rescue that supplied the animal must be named on each enclosure and in the written statement given to the purchaser, which also carries a guarantee of good health for not less than two (2) weeks. The license holder keeps a copy of that statement for twelve (12) months.

Licensing sits in § 2.02.029: a one (1) year license, an application to animal services approved or denied by the supervisor, and an offense for failing to apply before opening or within thirty (30) days after the renewal date. Records must be surrendered on demand, and failing to produce them is cause for revocation and refusal of a new license for two (2) years. Section 2.02.027 separately bans displaying or selling any animal on a roadside, public right-of-way, commercial parking lot, garage sale, flea market, festival, park, or other outdoor public place, with exceptions for the city and licensed rescue organizations.