Gaithersburg, MD Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Article IV of Chapter 4, § 4-101, prohibits keeping, selling, exchanging, exhibiting, giving away, boarding, harboring or fostering a 'prohibited animal' anywhere in Gaithersburg, whether as a pet, an egg source or with intent to slaughter for food. The definition in § 4-1 sweeps broadly: every domestic farm animal (horses, roosters, cattle, pigs, sheep, llamas, alpacas, goats and other hoofed animals), plus monkeys, alligators, crocodiles, caimans, raccoons, skunks, foxes, bears, sea mammals, poisonous snakes, and any member of the cat family other than the ordinary house cat.

The same section also bars exhibiting a 'performance animal' in a traveling act; § 4-1 lists primates, big cats, wolves and coyotes, bears, elephants, crocodilians, most hoofed exotics, seals and sea lions, and certain sharks as performance animals. Four narrow exceptions apply under § 4-101(c): permanent fixed-facility zoos; licensed research or medical institutions; educational facilities (or animals on loan from one) displayed within 100 miles under safety-protective conditions; the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair and similar permitted agricultural shows for non-performance farm animals; licensed veterinary hospitals and animal shelters; and falconers holding a federal or state raptor permit.

Outside those exceptions, the only path to lawfully keep a prohibited animal is a discretionary temporary permit the city manager may issue under § 4-102 when necessary for the animal's own welfare. A violation is a municipal infraction under § 4-26, citable under Article 23A of the Maryland Annotated Code, with fines set by resolution of the mayor and council under § 4-27 that increase for repeat offenses, and an owner may appeal an impoundment or citation order to the animal control board within five days under § 4-28.