(A) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to promote animal welfare and encourage best practices in the purchasing of dogs and cats offered for retail sale in the City of Indio.
(B) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
ANIMAL SHELTER. A municipal or related public animal shelter or duly incorporated nonprofit organization devoted to the rescue, care, and adoption of stray, abandoned or surrendered animals, and which does not breed animals.
CAT. An animal of the Felidae family of the order Carnivora.
CERTIFICATE OF SOURCE. A document declaring the source of the dog or cat transferred by the pet store. The certificate of source shall include the name, address, and phone number of the source of the dog or cat.
DOG. An animal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora.
NONPROFIT ANIMAL RESCUE ORGANIZATION. Any nonprofit corporation that is exempt from taxation under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), whose mission and practice is, in whole or in significant part, the rescue, care, and adoption of stray, abandoned or surrendered animals, and which does not breed animals.
PET STORE. A retail establishment open to the public and engaging in the business of offering for sale and/or selling animals at retail.
(C) Prohibition of the sale of dogs and cats.
(1) No pet store shall display, sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction, give away, or otherwise transfer or dispose of dogs or cats in the City of Indio unless exempt under division (E) of this section .
(2) All pet stores engaged in the adoption of dogs or cats pursuant to division (D)(4) of this section, shall post in a conspicuous place on each dog or cat kennel, cage, or enclosure, a certificate of source for each animal ensuring the animal was obtained in full compliance with this section. The certificate of source shall be made available upon request to animal control officers, law enforcement, code enforcement officials, or any other entity charged with enforcing the provisions of this section.
(D) Exemptions. The following shall not be considered a pet store and shall be exempt from the provisions of this section:
(1) A person or establishment that sells, delivers, offers for sale, barters, auctions, gives away, or otherwise transfers or disposes of only animals that were bred and reared on the premises of the person or establishment, provided that the person or establishment has not engaged in prohibited backyard breeding pursuant to the Unified Development Code.
(2) A publicly operated animal control facility or animal shelter;
(3) A private, charitable, nonprofit animal rescue organization or nonprofit animal humane society; and
(4) A publicly operated animal control agency, nonprofit animal humane society, or nonprofit animal rescue organization that operates out of or in connection with a pet store.
(E) Adoption of rescue and shelter animals. Nothing in this section shall prevent the owner, operator, or employees of a pet store from providing space and appropriate care for animals owned by an animal shelter or publicly operated animal control facility, nonprofit animal humane society, or nonprofit animal rescue organization and maintaining those animals at the pet store for the purpose of public adoption.
(Ord. 1692, passed 4-20-16; Am. Ord. 1719, passed 9-6-17)