Baltimore County Code 12-7-101 bars keeping a wild animal on your premises for any purpose without the Health Officer's approval. A permit issued by Permits, Approvals and Inspections requires all applicable state and federal permits. Maryland also bans dangerous exotics like big cats and primates.
Under Title 7, a person may not keep, or allow to be kept, a wild animal on their premises without the Health Officer's approval; a permit is issued by PAI on the Health Officer's recommendation, and the application must include the required state and federal permits. The County defines a 'wild animal' as any species that is naturally wild, dangerous, or ferocious, including a tamed animal that remains dangerous to the public. This layers on top of Maryland's exotic-pet ban (Criminal Law §10-621), which prohibits importing or keeping many dangerous exotics such as big cats, bears, and primates. Research institutes are exempt from the county permit.
Keeping a wild animal without approval violates Article 12: civil penalty $30 first / $150 repeat, and a misdemeanor; the animal may be impounded. State exotic-ban violations are separate misdemeanors.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Baltimore County's exotic pets rules stack up against other locations.
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