Granville County, NC Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Granville County Code Section 11-41(f) regulates wild animals and their owners countywide. The subsection first makes clear it does not authorize anything a wild animal native to North Carolina is already barred from doing under state statutes or state wildlife resources commission regulations, nor anything any animal is barred from doing under federal statute or regulation; county rules can only be as permissive as, or more restrictive than, state and federal law. The operative county rule is narrow and absolute: no wild animal may be maintained anywhere in the county unless the owner has first obtained a captivity license issued under G.S.

113-272.5, the state statute governing captivity licenses for wildlife. Because the county code does not itself list which species qualify or set separate caging, enclosure or veterinary standards, compliance turns on whatever conditions the state attaches to that captivity license; a resident keeping a wild animal without one is in violation of county law independent of any state citation. Enforcement runs through the same animal control structure as the rest of Chapter 11: an animal control officer may seize and impound a wild animal held in violation of Section 11-41 under Section 11-8(a)(5), and a violation of the chapter is punishable under Section 11-12(b) as a misdemeanor under G.S.

14-4 and G.S. 153A-123, carrying up to a $500.00 fine or imprisonment, with each day of a continuing violation treated as a separate offense. The animal management director, who reports to the county manager, supervises the animal control officers who carry out seizures under this section.