Amarillo, TX Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 8-2-1 defines Wild Animal broadly as any animal of a wild nature or disposition that must be reclaimed and tamed or else kept in confinement, expressly including venomous reptiles, wolf hybrids, and any non-domestic animal whose normal body weight at maturity is typically fifteen pounds or more. Section 8-2-32(a) makes it unlawful to keep, harbor or maintain that Wild Animal, or any animal the Texas Department of Health designates high-risk for rabies, anywhere within Amarillo's city limits. The prohibition is not absolute: subsection (b) exempts a nonprofit or government-run zoo, a traveling circus or rodeo that stays fifteen days or fewer, a federally licensed research facility, a television or film production holding the animal temporarily during filming, and one retail business per site displaying a single poisonous snake for public education, but only after the Animal Management and Welfare Board approves the application and inspects the secured, publicly inaccessible display enclosure.

If a legally kept Wild Animal escapes its cage or restraint, subsection (c) requires the owner to immediately notify Animal Management and Welfare, the police department, or the county sheriff; failing to report the escape is itself a separate offense. Any Wild Animal found within the city, exempt or not once it has escaped and is at large, is subject to impoundment under Section 8-2-33.