Siskiyou County, CA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Unincorporated Siskiyou County does not have its own permitting scheme that allows residents to keep exotic or wild animals as pets; its Animal Control code (Title 5, Chapter 3) is built around dogs, livestock, rabies control, and dangerous animals. For exotic and wild species, California state law governs. Under Fish & Game Code section 2118 and the implementing regulation, California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 671 ("Importation, Transportation and Possession of Live Restricted Animals"), it is unlawful to import, transport, or possess many live restricted animals - those classed as detrimental to native wildlife, agriculture, or public health and safety - without a permit. This restricted list famously includes ferrets (listed under family Mustelidae and barred since the 1930s), as well as most non-domestic cats, primates, many reptiles, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, and others. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife issues Restricted Species Permits only to qualified individuals or institutions for limited purposes such as research, public exhibition, education, or shelter - not for ordinary pet ownership of these species. So in practice a Siskiyou County resident cannot legally keep a banned exotic as a pet, regardless of any county silence on the subject. Conventional domestic pets (dogs, cats, common caged birds, and similar) are not restricted under this state law.