Santa Fe, NM Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

2(C)(8), part of the commercial-use standards in Article 14-6, applies to veterinary establishments in every zoning district except RR (rural residential). Within that scope, a clinic may treat only animals of a nonagricultural, domestic household nature, dogs, cats, caged birds and similarly-sized animals capable of being housed in a family dwelling, and the standard expressly excludes any facility treating large or typically farm animals such as horses, cows, sheep, chickens or pigs from the list of permitted uses altogether. The facility cannot contain external kennels or any outdoor area used for boarding, training, breeding or exercising animals; overnight boarding is allowed only for medical purposes and only inside soundproof rooms built into the clinic itself.

Continuous or repetitious noise or odor that can be detected at the property's lot line gives the land use director cause to investigate, and a substantiated complaint can lead to revocation of the clinic's certificate of occupancy, the same enforcement tool used against other commercial land uses in Article 14-6. 2(C)(8) layers additional operating conditions on top of wherever the use table allows the clinic to locate. The rural-residential exemption means a large-animal veterinary practice, such as an equine or livestock clinic, is confined to the RR district rather than the commercial corridors where small-animal clinics are permitted.