De Pere, WI Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

City Code § 86-4(a) prohibits bringing into, keeping, maintaining, offering for sale or barter, or releasing to the wild any of several categories of animals anywhere within the city, including on rented premises. Subsection (a)(2) bars wild animals "including, but not limited to, any live monkey, or other nonhuman primate, raccoon, skunk, prairie dog, fox, wolf, panther, lynx, opossum, or any other warm-blooded animal which can normally be found in the wild state," and the Code specifically classifies wolf-dog hybrids as wild animals for this purpose.

Subsection (a)(3) prohibits any poisonous or venomous, biting or injecting species of reptile, amphibian, arachnid or insect, including bees, unless the bees are part of an authorized agricultural operation or held under a beekeeping permit issued under § 86-7. Subsection (a)(4) separately bans any snake not indigenous to Wisconsin, and any snake, native or not, that exceeds three feet in length. The only carve-out is § 86-4(b): the prohibition does not reach zoological parks, circuses or similar entertainment organizations, or educational or medical institutions, which may lawfully hold animals a private household cannot.

There is no permit path for a resident to keep a prohibited wild animal, unlike the city's separate, permit-based allowances for backyard chickens and honeybees. Enforcement runs through the health officer and police department, who under § 86-5(f) may confiscate and remove a prohibited animal from a premises, in addition to any forfeiture imposed for the underlying violation.