Georgetown, TX Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Sec. 020 of the Code of Ordinances makes it unlawful to keep or harbor a long, specifically named list of species anywhere in the City: lions, tigers, ocelots, cougars, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, hyenas, bears, lesser pandas, wild-caught ferrets, binturong, ostriches, emus, miniature and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, apes, all venomous reptiles, nonvenomous reptiles longer than six feet, alligators, crocodiles, elephants, rhinoceros, skunks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, bats, wolves, any animal the ordinance calls simply 'dangerous,' and any hybrid of these animals. The ban covers private ownership of a single animal, not just commercial exhibition.

030, separately bars keeping any wild, exotic, or dangerous animal on a premises for display or exhibition, whether the owner charges admission or not, though it carves out theatrical exhibits. The prohibited-species list in Sec. 020 has four narrow carve-outs: zoological parks accredited by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, federally licensed research institutions, government agencies or employees using the animal for education, propagation, or an official behavior program, and holders of a valid Texas Parks and Wildlife Department rehabilitation permit, but only for animals actually in rehabilitation and scheduled for release back to the wild.

There is no permit process for an ordinary resident to obtain and keep a listed species as a pet; the exemptions run to institutions and licensed rehabilitators, not private owners.