Durham County Animal Services (a division of the Durham County Sheriff's Office)

Durham County Pet Shop Permit

Durham County Code § 8-104(1) provides that 'No person, partnership or corporation, whether operated separately or in connection with another business or enterprise, shall operate a pet shop unless a state license, where required, has been obtained pursuant to G.S. 19A-27 and unless a permit to operate such an establishment or business has been granted by the animal control director of the county', and § 8-104(5) sets the permit fee at $25.00 for the fiscal year or part thereof, payable to the county animal control department. Who is covered turns on two definitions and one exemption. § 8-96 defines a pet shop as 'any person, partnership or corporation, whether operated separately or in connection with another business or enterprise, that acquires for the purpose of resale animals bred by others whether as owner, agent or on consignment and sells, trades or offers to sell or trade such animals to the general public at retail or wholesale', and defines animal to 'mean fish, mammals, birds, spiders, scorpions, amphibians, snakes and reptiles', so an aquarium shop is as much a pet shop as a puppy retailer. § 8-99 then states that 'Veterinarian hospitals, animal shelters, kennels, businesses engaged in the sale of domesticated livestock and zoological parks owned or operated by the government are exempt from the provisions and regulations of this article', which takes a veterinary practice out of this permit entirely. The state license stacks on the county's: G.S. 19A-27 sets a State pet shop license fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) for each license period or part thereof beginning with the first day of the fiscal year. Conditions of the county permit include inspection of all animals and the premises by an animal control officer during normal business hours under § 8-104(3) and prominent display of the permit under § 8-104(7). Operating without a permit costs $25.00 for the first day and $15.00 for each day thereafter under § 8-104(8), failing to renew by June 1 costs $1.00 per day under § 8-104(9), and a civil citation under § 8-100(2) carries 'a civil penalty of $50.00 for the first day of the violation and an additional $25.00 per day for each day the violation continues to exist'. The county's FY 2026-27 adopted Animal Services fee schedule prices impoundment, boarding, civil penalties, failure to vaccinate and shelter rabies vaccination, and the $25.00 in the ordinance is the amount published for this permit.