Chesapeake, VA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Chesapeake City Code Sec. 10-49
- Permit deadline
- 10 working days after acquisition or move
- Initial permit fee
- $10.00, plus $5.00 for renewal
- Unpermitted keeping penalty
- Class 2 misdemeanor
- Disqualifying priors
- Cruelty, dangerous-animal, or animal-felony convictions
- Permit term
- One calendar year, non-transferable, one per address
Summary
Keeping a wild, exotic, or poisonous animal as a pet anywhere in Chesapeake requires a permit from the Animal Services Unit under Sec. 10-49. The list covers monkeys, wolves, big cats, large reptiles, and venomous species, and applicants with a prior cruelty or dangerous-animal conviction cannot get one.
It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or permit to be kept upon his or her premises within the City limits any wild or exotic animal or any poisonous animal as a pet or for exhibition purposes, whether gratuitously or for a fee, without a permit from the Animal Services Unit. This section shall not apply to zoological parks, circuses, performing animal exhibitions, veterinary clinics, medical or educational facilities which are properly licensed by the federal government and/or the Commonwealth. In no case, however, shall any such wild, exotic, and/or poisonous animal(s) be exhibited, displayed, or kept in such a manner as to permit the animal(s) to escape, run at large, or otherwise come in direct physical contact with any person unless under the direct care and control of the owner, caretaker, or handler. A violation of this subsection shall constitute a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 10-49 defines 'wild or exotic animal' broadly: any live monkey, raccoon, skunk, wolf or wolf-canine hybrid, squirrel, fox, leopard, tiger, lion, panther, ratite, or other warm-blooded wild-type animal; any poisonous reptile; any nonpoisonous apodal reptile eight feet or longer or nonpoisonous quadrupedal reptile five feet or longer; and any crocodilian, including alligators, crocodiles, caimans, and gavials. Excluded are ferrets, pet-store birds other than ratites, smaller nonpoisonous reptiles, and captive-bred domestic rabbits and rodents that have never known the wild. Keeping or exhibiting one of these animals, for a fee or free, without a permit from the Animal Services Unit is a class 2 misdemeanor, and an owner whose wild or exotic animal gets loose also owes the City its actual cost of locating and capturing it.
The permit application is filed within ten working days of acquiring the animal, moving into the City, or changing address within it, by affidavit listing the owner's name and address, the enclosure's location, the animal's common and scientific name, sex, age, size, identifying marks, acquisition date and source, an acknowledgment of rabies-exposure risk, and an emergency contact number. No permit issues to anyone previously convicted of owning a nuisance, vicious, or dangerous animal, animal cruelty, failing to provide adequate care under Sec. 10-10, or any felony involving an animal, and the Animal Services Unit inspects the animal before issuing one.
00 to renew, add an animal, or replace a lost one. Anyone already keeping a covered animal has 60 days from the ordinance's adoption to apply, remove the animal from the City, or surrender it, and releasing a wild or exotic animal into the wild is separately unlawful.
Violations & Fines
Keeping a wild, exotic, or poisonous animal in Chesapeake without a Sec. 10-49 permit, whether as a pet or for paid exhibition, is a class 2 misdemeanor. An owner whose animal escapes and runs at large also owes the City its actual cost of recapturing it. Furnishing false information on the permit affidavit voids the permit and exposes every animal listed on it to impoundment pending a court's disposition order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I own a large snake or a big cat in Chesapeake?
What information does the wild animal permit application require?
Are ferrets or pet-store birds covered by the exotic animal permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Chesapeake
Compare Chesapeake to another location·View the Virginia animal ordinances overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.