LA PLATA — Anyone in Charles County who sells even one puppy as a business needs a commercial animal establishment license. But the county’s zoning rules do not treat that business as a kennel until five or more animals are involved, and nothing in the code spells out what happens in between.
That gap surfaced Oct. 21 at the county’s Animal Matters Hearing Board, where a Waldorf man cited for brokering litters of puppies without a license told the board he had been trying for months to find out what the county wanted from him.
The board found him in violation of Section 230-10.C of the county’s animal regulations, which requires the commercial license. Members voted unanimously to impose a $250 fine and hold it in abeyance for one year, meaning he will not have to pay if he does not come back before the board on the same charge.
The board’s attorney, who also serves as the main land use attorney for the county’s Department of Planning and Growth Management, said the case showed why the rules need work. “There is some discrepancy between how the animal regulations and the zoning ordinance mesh with one another,” he said, adding that his office is working on it.
Six months of notices
An animal control officer testified that the department had dealt with the man for most of 2026. She first visited his Waldorf home on March 6, she said, after reports that he was posting puppies for sale online. She told the board he acknowledged keeping puppies at the house for several days until they sold. She gave him an application and 30 days to apply.
Two officers returned May 13 after a report that he had advertised 16 separate litters over three months, according to the testimony. They gave him the county’s animal regulations book, another application and another 30 days. The officer said Facebook listings continued during and after both deadlines. She issued the citation on Sept. 24, and as of the hearing, animal control had still not received an application.
The officer said the family had not allowed officers inside to see the dogs, so she had observed only adult dogs through the windows and one brought outside.
‘I’m merely brokering’
The man told the board he does not breed or board dogs for money. He said he once bred dogs where he previously lived, but now finds dogs for people who ask for a particular breed, and that most of the puppies never come to his house or leave the same day. He advertises only the extras, he said. Photos of two-week-old puppies in his listings were taken where the litter was born, he said.
He said an early officer told him he did not need a license if he was not breeding at the house, and that later officers told him he did. He said he called animal control for about two weeks before a receptionist called back, then waited roughly two more weeks for a lieutenant who promised to email him information that never arrived. He also said he left a message with the county’s planning office and heard nothing.
“I don’t have a problem getting the actual license,” he said. “But I should not be fined because I got two conflicting sources.”
Board members were skeptical. One member told him that by his own account, even one day at his house counted as boarding. Another member read the code’s definition aloud: a commercial animal establishment is any person or business engaged in training, grooming, boarding, sale, transfer, auction or other delivery of any animal. Brokering falls within that, the member said, whether the dogs touch his property or not.
Where the rules split
Charles County Animal Control Chief Jeffrey Thomas explained the licensing path. An applicant first goes to Planning and Zoning, which decides whether the business is allowed at that address. After zoning approves and the fee is paid, animal control inspects and issues the license, usually within two to three weeks, he said.
The county’s commercial animal establishment application reflects that order: a zoning official must sign off before the Treasurer’s Office takes payment. Fees start at $100 for a boarding or breeding facility with fewer than 10 adult animals and run to $325 for an auction.
The board’s attorney said that is where brokers like the Waldorf man get stuck. Chapter 230, the animal regulations, sets no minimum number of animals for a commercial license. The zoning ordinance treats a commercial kennel as five or more animals.
At five or more, he said, this man could not operate at all. His home is in the RC zone, which requires at least five acres for a commercial kennel, and his lot is too small. Even with enough land, he would need a special exception from the Board of Appeals, a process the attorney estimated at $7,000 to $8,000, and he said zoning would not approve it.
Below that, from one to four animals, the license falls only under animal control and this board, the attorney said. That would be a limited license capped at four animals at any one time. He said Planning and Growth Management would still need to review whether that option is available at the address.
“That issue has popped up and I’ve had to answer it like on the fly before,” the attorney said at the end of the meeting, urging board members to bring ideas for a rules revision.
Other business
The board, which has spent recent meetings on bite cases, including rulings that two bulldogs were dangerous after a teen was bitten and that a Cane Corso was dangerous after attacking a Maltese, also dismissed all fines and abatements in a separate case after the owners surrendered their dog. Members said the goal of the penalties is safety, and once the dog is gone they no longer serve a purpose.
A board member asked whether the panel could meet privately for a training session so newer members could agree on how to question witnesses. The attorney said no. Any time a quorum meets to conduct public business, he said, the Maryland Open Meetings Act requires it to be open and publicized, with closed sessions limited to narrow purposes such as legal advice. He suggested an open session, possibly online, instead.
The board’s next meeting is Nov. 18.
