Sacramento, CA Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

" The definition reaches only small domestic animals, dogs, cats, birds and similar species, not livestock or large-animal practices. Other zones handle clinics differently. 510 lists veterinary clinics and hospitals as a use requiring zoning administrator sign-off, and caps the combined floor area of veterinary clinics and other similarly restricted uses at 25% of gross floor area or 6,400 square feet of a building. 420 use table states that "Veterinary clinics and hospitals need a conditional use permit if there is outdoor boarding of animals", an indoor-only clinic proceeds under the base zoning approval, but any outdoor kennel or run triggers full conditional-use review before the zoning administrator or Planning and Design Commission.

Applicants file for zoning administrator or conditional use approval through the Community Development Department's planning division, which checks site plans against the applicable zone's use table before a business license or building permit is issued.