Harrisburg, PA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 3-509.6 of the Harrisburg Codified Ordinances is an outright ban. No person is permitted to own, harbor or maintain a wolf, a wolf hybrid, a nondomestic cat or a nondomestic cat hybrid within City limits. The ban has no permit route. Its only exception protects an animal owned by a person living within the City limits before the effective date of the chapter.

The ban sits inside a wider wild animal scheme in Chapter 3-509. Section 3-509.5 B prohibits keeping or permitting to be kept any wild animal as a pet without a permit from the City, and subsection A prohibits keeping any wild animal or vicious or dangerous animal for display or exhibition purposes, free or for a fee, except at zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions and circuses. Section 3-511.2 adds that no person can purchase, display, sell or possess any wildlife in the City except as permitted by the Pennsylvania Game and Wildlife Code.

Dangerous animal status is a separate track. Under Chapter 3-513 any animal that meets at least one of the listed characteristics is classified as dangerous and must be kept in a properly contained enclosure with warning signs, with proof of liability insurance of at least $50,000 available on demand. Section 3-513.4 allows such an animal outside its enclosure only when muzzled, restrained by a substantial chain or leash and under the physical restraint of a responsible person.

The Animal Control Section and Bureau of Police enforce Chapter 3-509 in the City of Harrisburg.