West Covina, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Article VI of Chapter 14 targets retail dog sales specifically. Section 14-132 defines a 'pet store' as any business engaging in the business of selling dogs at retail that is required to hold a seller's permit under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6066. Section 14-133 makes it unlawful to operate such a store without a city-issued pet store permit, which runs for one year and sits on top of, not in place of, any other license the business needs. Existing stores when the article took effect in 2008 had six months to apply.

Two categories are carved out under Section 14-135: small breeders who sold fewer than fifty dogs from their own premises in the preceding year, and publicly operated pounds and humane societies. Getting the permit requires more than a form: Section 14-136 makes the applicant submit, under penalty of perjury, a full ownership and employment history in the pet trade, along with documentation tracing the source of every dog for sale or sold in the past twelve months, including the breeder or dealer's name, USDA dealer number, and any veterinarian-certified record of disease or hereditary condition affecting the dog, as required by Health and Safety Code Section 122140(b).

Under Section 14-137, the license collector must issue the permit within ten days unless the documentation shows the store's dogs came from breeders or dealers not licensed by the USDA, or from breeders whose conditions fall short of the federal standards in Title 9, Part 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations. A denied applicant can appeal to the city manager within ten days. Section 14-140 lets the license collector suspend or revoke a permit for any violation of the article or of federal, state, or local law, and a store that loses its permit through revocation cannot reapply for one year. Violating any provision of the article is a misdemeanor under Section 14-134, punishable under Section 1-37(a) of the Municipal Code.