Brookhaven, GA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Sec. 5-15 of the Code of the City of Brookhaven, Georgia works as a permission gate. No person can own, keep, harbor or house a hazardous animal, or permit one to be kept, harbored or housed, unless the police chief has granted prior written approval. The chief can grant approval on presentation of photographic proof that the animal will be kept adequately restrained or confined as is common for the species. The section's own text applies the rule within unincorporated City of Brookhaven, and that wording is printed in the Code as is.

The definition in Sec. 5-1 has two triggers. A hazardous animal is one that may be harmful to humans or other animals by virtue of its ability to produce poison, or one that, due to its size and feeding habits, could prey on humans as a food source. The list is expressly not limited to the named animals: pit vipers (genus Crotalidae), coral snakes (genus Micrurus), poisonous spiders, frogs, large reptiles, Nile monitors, caiman, alligators, crocodiles, and large constricting snakes greater than ten feet in length.

Nearby sections set the rules for animals outside that definition. Sec. 5-32 names domestic fowl, bees and potbellied pigs as animals that can be kept within the city under stated limits, and Sec. 5-1 defines a potbellied pig as domesticated swine that at maturity weighs less than 200 pounds. Owners of ferrets must comply with any state law applicable to ferrets under Sec. 5-25(c). Under Sec. 5-28(b), any animal, whether classified or not, can be impounded if an officer believes it poses a threat to the public.

Enforcement belongs to the police chief. Sec. 5-19 authorizes the chief or a designee, which includes DeKalb County Animal Control personnel, to enforce Chapter 5 and to bring the owner before a judge of the City of Brookhaven municipal court or the DeKalb County Magistrate Court.