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

Section 18-42 draws a hard line for commercial pet sellers: except as the section itself allows, a retail pet store commits an offense if it sells, exchanges, barters, gives away, transfers, or even advertises for sale, exchange, barter or transfer a dog or cat, regardless of the animal's age. The section carves out two narrow paths. First, under subsection (1), a store may set aside space to display dogs or cats that are actually available for adoption through animal services, an animal welfare organization, or an animal adoption agency, but only if the store holds no ownership interest in the displayed animals and collects no fee or other compensation tied to the display.

Second, subsection (2) gives an individual a defense to prosecution if the animals sold, exchanged, bartered, given away or transferred were bred by that individual, shielding a hobby breeder selling their own litter rather than a store stocking wholesale stock. Wylie Animal Services officers, who hold citation authority for all of chapter 18 under § 18-2, enforce the section citywide. No specific dollar fine is written into § 18-42, so a violation defaults to the city's general penalty clause, Code § 1-13, capping fines at $500.00 per offense unless a court treats the matter as touching public health, which raises the ceiling to $2,000.00.