Bellevue, NE Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 6-0 defines WILD ANIMAL to include any live monkey or nonhuman primate, raccoon, skunk, fox, poisonous or dangerous snake, poisonous or dangerous insect, leopard, panther, tiger, lion or lynx, plus any other warm-blooded animal now or historically found in the wild within the United States, its territories or possessions, expressly naming deer, opossum, mink, armadillo, coyote, squirrel and wolf as examples. Section 6-4(A) bars anyone from keeping or permitting a wild animal to be kept on their premises for display or exhibition, whether for a fee or free, but carves out an exception for zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions and circuses.

Section 6-4(B) is stricter still and has no exception at all: no person may keep or permit to be kept any wild animal as a pet. Enforcement runs through the city's humane officer, police, code enforcement officers and the contracted animal control authority under § 6-8. A conviction under § 6-4 carries a harsher consequence than an ordinary Chapter 6 violation: § 6-9(B) automatically revokes the owner's permit to own, keep, harbor or have custody of animals, and bars the issuance of any new permit to that person going forward, on top of the chapter's standard fine.