Beverly Hills Municipal Code Art. 17.1 Animal Grooming

No person shall engage in, conduct, or carry on commercial animal grooming activity without a permit issued under the provisions of chapter 1, article 1 of this title. (Ord. 20-O-2828, eff. 1-1-2021)

For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

In addition to the information prescribed by the Finance Director, all applications for a permit to conduct an animal grooming business must contain the following information:

A. The complete address and all telephone numbers of the animal grooming business;

B. A complete list of the names and residence addresses of all proposed employees employed by the animal grooming business and the name and residence addresses of the manager or managing employee proposed to be principally in charge of the operation of the animal grooming business;

C. If applicable, the two (2) previous addresses of the applicant immediately prior to the present address of the applicant;

D. Whether or not the applicant, in previously operating an animal grooming establishment or similar business in this or any other city or state under license or permit, has had such license or permit denied, revoked, or suspended and the reasons therefor;

E. The applicant must report to City on the permit application form if any employee, with direct contact with animals, ever has had a license or permit, certification or identification for working with animals revoked or suspended, and the reason therefor;

F. All criminal convictions of the business and the owner/applicant involving animals or the animal grooming business; and

G. Proof of current business tax registration with the City of Beverly Hills. (Ord. 20-O-2828, eff. 1-1-2021)

A. Staff Requirements:

1. Any animal grooming facility shall have a responsible person on the premises to act as manager and supervise employees during all business hours.

2. Groomers that are employed by the permitee on or after the effective date of this article shall not groom any animal without the supervision of a groomer who has met the criteria enumerated in paragraphs (a) through (d) below unless the unsupervised groomer has:

a. Obtained certification for their level of responsibility from a nationally recognized organization; or

b. Graduated from an animal grooming school and have a minimum of one year of practical, professional animal grooming experience; or

c. Completed an animal grooming apprenticeship program commensurate with their level of responsibility; or

d. Been employed as a groomer for no less that the last seven (7) consecutive years, and throughout that period and course of employment has regularly and frequently groomed animals.

B. Inspection Authority: Any city official, city employee, or employee of Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control, authorized to enforce the provisions of this article of the Beverly Hills Municipal Code, such as Community Preservation staff, may conduct an inspection of the premises licensed under this article at any reasonable time to ensure compliance with the provisions of this article. Mobile animal grooming businesses are subject to vehicle inspections to ensure their vehicle(s) used for mobile grooming meet applicable facility requirements, including, but not limited to, requirements to install and maintain video recording devices in good working order that adequately capture the animal and the groomer throughout the grooming process.

C. General Facility Requirements:

1. Facilities for animals must be maintained so as to continuously provide a sanitary environment for the animals kept or to be kept therein. Equipment shall be maintained in accordance with all applicable laws and industry standards.

2. Animal holding or drying areas shall be large enough to allow the animal to stand, lie down and turn around.

3. Cages and grooming areas such as tables, benches, and tubs shall be structurally sound and maintained in good repair.

4. Animal enclosures, cages or other restraint devices shall be constructed to prevent injury to the animals. Enclosures may have wire flooring provided that the wire is of adequate gauge to prevent sagging under the weight of the animals, and the mesh is small enough to prevent their feet from passing through.

5. Grooming personnel must remain within four feet (4') of the animal during all bathing and grooming procedures.

6. A consultation with the customer shall take place prior to the grooming to discuss health and temperament concerns and to establish the animal's previous grooming history.

7. Grooming nooses, chokers, slip collars, pinch collars, and prong collars shall not be used as tethering devices.

8. All tethering devices shall be equipped with a quick-release feature, which allows the tethering device to be removed quickly and safely. Animals placed on grooming tables in self-grooming areas must be attached to tethering devices with quick-release features. A tethering device is not required to be used if an animal is on the ground.

9. Any tethering device, harness, or restraint used shall be of appropriate style, size, and strength for the animal to which it is attached. Grooming loops or tethering devices used to restrain an animal by its neck are not appropriate tethering devices for cats.

10. Animals with a collapsed trachea or other breathing problems shall neither be tethered nor restrained in such a manner as to inhibit its ability to breathe and all reasonable efforts shall be made to reduce or prevent pressure to the neck of such animal.

11. Tethering devices shall be fastened to the animal in a manner that minimizes discomfort to the animal.

12. Grooming arms, by which the animal is restrained, shall be secure.

13. Video Recording:

a. Within eight (8) months of this article's enactment, video recording devices shall be installed and maintained in good working order in all bathing and styling areas of grooming facilities, except those areas where patrons self-groom animals for which the patrons are owners or guardians.

b. Video recording devices shall be installed in such a way to adequately capture the animal and the groomer throughout the bathing and styling process, which may require more than one video recording device to be installed.

c. Video recordings may be stored through cloud storage or local storage.

d. Video must be of a reasonably quality to capture all animal grooming activities. Devices that capture video at a resolution of, or higher than, 1080p HD are presumed to be of reasonable quality.

e. All recordings shall be maintained for a period of no less than seven (7) days. Any recording of animal mistreatment, injury or death shall be preserved for a period of two (2) years.

14. Grooming tabletops shall be equipped with a non-slip surface that is easy to clean.

15. Bath tubs and the floor immediately outside of the tub shall be covered in a non-slip surface.

D. General Operating Requirements:

1. All animal grooming facilities shall have a working relationship and written acknowledgment from a veterinarian to provide timely veterinary care as appropriate for illness or injury. The name, address and phone number, and hours of operation, of the veterinarian will be available to the inspector upon request, and shall be posted.

2. Anti-bark collars and sedatives shall not be used on any animal without written permission of the owner or guardian of the animal.

3. Animals which are natural enemies shall not be quartered or held together or so near each other as to cause injury or torment.

4. Animals shall not be boarded at the facility. Animals shall only be kept at a grooming facility for a reasonable time in order to perform the business of grooming.

5. Each animal shall be kept in an individual cage unless grouping of animals is requested by the animal(s) owner(s) or guardian(s).

E. Cleanliness Requirements:

1. The interior facility surfaces, walls, cages, counters, and tables shall be constructed and maintained so that they are water resistant and can be cleaned and sanitized.

2. All cages, benches, tables, tubs, etc. shall be sanitized after one animal ceases to occupy the space, before another occupies the same space.

3. Equipment such as brushes, combs and clipper blades shall be sanitized between uses on different animals.

4. The hair or fur on the floor around each grooming station shall be removed after each animal. Common areas of the facility shall be kept in good repair and cleaned each business day.

5. Hair, waste and refuse shall be removed from the facility and disposed of daily so as to minimize odors, disease hazards and vermin infestation.

F. Water:

1. Potable water shall be provided for drinking purposes.

2. Water shall be offered to animals at the facility at least once every hour and water dishes shall be cleaned prior to offering the water dish to another animal.

G. Dryers:

1. Cage dryers with a fully enclosed drying chamber in which the animal is placed, and without safety air vents, are prohibited.

2. Dryers must be located and oriented to be in clear and full view of groomers at all times.

3. Dryers must be monitored by an animal groomer at all times while in operation.

4. All dryers must be equipped with a timer that will automatically shut off the dryer after fifteen (15) minutes, unless it is a hand-held dryer or a dryer directly attended by a person.

H. Records: Current and up to date files of incidents involving injuries, severe illness, seizure and/or death which occur at the animal grooming facility or business must be kept at the facility at all times. The incident file shall cover the most recent three (3) year period. The records shall be available to the public, upon request during regular business hours. Mobile animal grooming businesses may keep incident files at the address where the business is licensed.

I. Reporting: The manager or person in charge must report all grooming-related injuries requiring medical attention and the deaths of any animal at the facility within twenty-four (24) hours of the occurrence of such incident. Notification is to be made to the City of Beverly Hills Community Preservation Manager by telephone. Such notification must include the name, address and phone number of the guardian of the injured or deceased animal.

J. Mobile Animal Groomers: Mobile animal grooming businesses shall be required to have an animal grooming permit and comply with all provisions of this article.

(Ord. 20-O-2828, eff. 1-1-2021; amd. Ord. 24-O-2894, eff. 6-7-2024)

A violation of this article is subject to the administrative penalty provisions of title 1, chapter 3 of this Code. Where the violation is of a continuing nature, each day or portion thereof wherein the violation continues constitutes a separate and distinct violation.

A permit to operate an animal grooming facility may be revoked or suspended pursuant to the provisions of title 4, chapter 1, article 1 of this Code. (Ord. 20-O-2828, eff. 1-1-2021)