Las Vegas committee advances amended pet-shop ordinance, sends bill to council

At a recommending committee meeting Oct. 13, 2025, Las Vegas officials voted to forward an amended ordinance (Bill 2025-35) to the full City Council for consideration on Nov. 5, 2025. The ordinance would amend LVMC Title 7 to prohibit newly licensed pet shops from selling dogs, cats, rabbits, pot-bellied pigs and guinea pigs and would impose new regulatory and consumer-protection requirements on pet retailers.

The proposed first amendment circulated by the city attorney’s office would allow the 13 existing shops the city identified that currently sell those animals to continue doing so for three more years, with the retail exemption set to sunset on Nov. 5, 2028. The amendment also adds requirements and penalties, including written disease-control plans, display of price and kennel-of-origin information, health-certificate requirements for dogs and cats, warranty provisions described by staff, and a minimum fine of $2.50 and maximum fine of $500 for illegal sales.

The ordinance package grew out of two earlier measures, bills 2025-13 (canine-enclosure and quarantine requirements and warranty rules) and 2025-14 (sale prohibitions), which sponsors combined into Bill 2025-35. Per the city attorney, the measure was circulated under Nevada Revised Statutes business-impact requirements before formal introduction; after public feedback the sponsors requested the sunset amendment that is before the council.

Public comment at the recommending-committee hearing was extensive and divided. Rebecca Goff, Nevada state director for Humane World for Animals, said the amendment that sunsets existing stores was a “big step in the right direction,” noting the city has more stores than “37 states” and urging the committee to advance the ordinance. Hillary Gray, executive director of the Animal Foundation, said the city should recommend the ordinance with the three-year sunset and stressed local shelters’ capacity constraints: “There are nearly 800 animals on our campus today at the Animal Foundation,” she said.

Several speakers representing animal-welfare groups urged the committee to advance the ordinance. Warren Hardy, representing Humane World for Animals, summarized the supporters’ case as twofold: stopping inhumane breeding practices and protecting consumers. “This is about two things — stopping an inhumane practice, and consumer protection,” Hardy said.

Opponents warned of unintended consequences and urged stronger breeder regulation instead of a ban. Alyssa Miller Hurley of the Pet Advocacy Network said outright sales bans can push buyers toward unregulated internet sales or illegal backyard breeders and cited news reporting from California to argue bans may produce a black market. “These kinds of ordinances do not achieve what they set out to do,” Miller Hurley said, arguing the city should instead tighten enforcement and licensing of breeders and pet stores.

Other commenters included Lindsay Amar, a Las Vegas resident and small-business owner who sells pet products and urged passage, and Bridget Murphy, reading a statement for the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society, which said the ordinance “falls short” because it allows an extended exemption for existing shops. Rachel Bergen, executive director of a high-volume spay/neuter clinic, described local clinics and shelters as already overburdened and supported the measure with the sunset amendment.

On procedural action, a committee member moved that the recommending committee issue no formal recommendation and forward Bill 2025-35 with the proposed first amendment to the Nov. 5 City Council meeting. The transcript does not record who made the motion, whether it was seconded, or a roll-call vote; the chair announced that “this bill without a recommendation will move to the city council on 11/05/2025.”

If the City Council adopts the ordinance as amended, newly licensed pet shops in Las Vegas would be barred from retail sales of the five named animal categories, and the city would require shops to maintain written disease-control plans, post kennel-of-origin and price information, provide health certificates for dogs and cats, comply with warranty-related requirements described in the ordinance text, and face escalating administrative enforcement triggered by three code adjudications. The proposed first amendment would allow current shops only a three-year window to continue sales before the grandfathering expires.

The recommending committee hearing record indicates the item will appear on the City Council agenda for Nov. 5, 2025, where the bill sponsors — Mayor Shelley Berkley and Councilwoman Nancy Bruni — are expected to participate in the presentation and public testimony.

With the committee action, the measure’s next step is a full council hearing where council members will have the opportunity to deliberate and vote on adoption, amendment or rejection.