Lenexa, KS Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Section 3-2-C-8 is the one bird-specific provision in Lenexa's animal chapter, and it works as a sales ban. It does not list species of its own. It borrows the federal list by reaching any native or foreign species or subspecies that is listed as threatened or endangered pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and it covers the dead body or parts as well as live animals.

Birds are protected elsewhere in the chapter because the Code defines ANIMAL as any vertebrate, expressly including birds, whether wild or domesticated (§ 3-2-G-2). Cruelty to animals (§ 3-2-C-2) makes it unlawful to intentionally cause physical injury to an animal, to intentionally make accessible any substance treated with harmful or poisonous material, or to intentionally abandon an animal without provisions for its care. The section exempts killing or trapping permitted by the Code or state law and normal pest or vermin control.

Trapping is banned anywhere in the City (§ 3-2-C-4). The exceptions include cage-type live traps for nuisance animals that are monitored at least every 12 hours, and traps designed to kill squirrels set above eight feet and obscured from public view by a person with a valid wildlife control permit. A captured animal cannot be released onto public or private property without the property owner's consent. Animal Control can approve any other exception in writing.

Keeping wild birds is restricted too. Section 3-2-I-1 makes it unlawful to own or maintain any exotic, wild or hybrid animal, and the WILD ANIMAL definition covers any non-domesticated species native to the United States. The only route is a City wild animal permit for a person who holds a state or federal permit for scientific collection, education, exhibition or rehabilitation, and the application needs a certificate of insurance of at least $500,000 (§ 3-2-I-2). The Code defines DOMESTIC ANIMAL (NON-FARM) separately and lists birds found in pet stores that were bred in captivity among them, while poultry such as chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and peafowl fall under Article 3-2-H.