Spalding County, GA Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Under Section 12-1014, any person operating an animal establishment, defined broadly to include pet shops, kennels and similar businesses that board, breed, train, trade or sell animals, must first obtain a business license under the Spalding County Licensing and Regulation Ordinance, and each separate physical location counts as its own establishment requiring its own license. The animal control shelter supervisor is notified of every animal-establishment license issued and can request that the licensing department revoke a license for noncompliance, including refusal to allow inspection; upon revocation, the supervisor sets a deadline for removing the animals and may impound any that remain past it.

Section 12-1014(c) bars an establishment from selling, trading, or giving away a dog or cat older than three months unless it has been vaccinated as the chapter requires, and lets the supervisor inspect the establishment and its animals during normal business hours. Pet shops carry their own minimum physical standards under subsection (e): hot and cold running water for cleaning, room temperature suited to every species kept, and cages and enclosures of nonporous, easily disinfected material sized so each animal can stand, turn and stretch to its full length; kennels face a parallel set of standards in subsection (d), including a four-foot-by-four-foot minimum per dog in shared kennels and concrete indoor cage floors. Failing any of these standards is grounds for the county to deny or revoke the establishment's license.