Pet vaccination rules for boarding & grooming in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania rules we’ve verified

Vaccination mandate. Pennsylvania requires every person owning or keeping a dog or cat over three months to have it vaccinated against rabies. [7 Pa. Code § 16.41, under the Rabies Prevention and Control Act, 3 P.S. §§ 455.1–455.12 — verified August 31, 2026]

Record keeping. Every kennel keeper must keep a record of each dog kept in the kennel for two years, and a Class C kennel’s permanent record must include the date of the last rabies vaccination. [3 P.S. § 459-207(c); § 459-207(h)(15) — verified August 31, 2026]

Boarding kennels must be licensed by the PA Department of Agriculture under the Dog Law, and the definition expressly reaches day care — grooming-only and training-only businesses are excluded. Since Act 47 of 2024, a boarding kennel must require the owner of every out-of-state dog to hand over a rabies vaccination certificate at intake, plus an interstate certificate of veterinary inspection unless the dog is privately owned, staying 30 days or less and not changing hands, and must keep those on file for seven days after the dog leaves (3 P.S. § 459-214(c)). There is still no equivalent intake duty for in-state dogs.

Citations checked against primary sources on August 31, 2026. Laws change — verify anything you rely on with the authority itself.

What facilities in Pennsylvania commonly require

Separately from any law, most grooming salons, daycares and boarding kennels set their own admission policy — and it is usually stricter than the legal minimum, because one sick dog can close a playroom for a week. Typical policies ask for:

Dogs: current rabies, DHPP (distemper–parvo combination), and bordetella (kennel cough) — with bordetella most strictly enforced by boarding and daycare, where dogs share air. Some facilities also ask for leptospirosis or canine influenza in areas that have seen outbreaks. Cats: current rabies and FVRCP.

Bring the certificate your veterinarian issued — the facility needs the expiry date printed on it, not just proof a shot happened. Some owners carry titer (antibody test) results instead of a booster; whether a facility accepts titers is that facility’s call, and many don’t for rabies.

Running a pet-care business in Pennsylvania?

Whatever your policy is, the hard part is keeping proof of it current for every pet without chasing paper. VaxCheck gives you a QR code for the counter: owners type their own dates and photograph the certificate, your staff verifies once, owners get automatic reminders before anything expires, and check-in becomes a red / amber / green list. You can set the exact vaccines your policy requires, and it flags any pet missing one.

Pet owner in Pennsylvania?

Keep every certificate in one place, get told before anything expires, and hand a copy to any groomer, daycare, kennel or sitter who asks — including one that has never heard of VaxCheck. They open a link, print what they need, and create nothing. Free, and there is no password to lose.

What a shop will ask you for, and how to have it ready · See your pet’s records