Irvington, NJ Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Irvington rewrote its entire animal-keeping article on November 23, 2020, under Ordinance No. MC 3744, replacing what had been Chapter 65, Part 1, Article I of the 1981 Revised Code. Section 167-2C is the operative wild-and-exotic-animal ban that came out of that rewrite. It sits inside Article I, Horses, Fowl, Livestock, Indigenous and Exotic Animals, alongside a separate ban on horses on sidewalks in Section 167-1, a ban on fowl and livestock in Section 167-2A and B, and a companion ban in Section 167-2D on releasing any live animal, including common household pets, into the Township environment.

The Township frames the wild-animal ban around disease risk and public safety rather than cruelty: the ordinance text points to the danger these species pose rather than welfare concerns. L. 1968, c. A. , meaning a resident cannot simply register a wild or exotic animal locally; state sign-off has to come first. Enforcement runs through Irvington's Animal Control Officer and Animal Cruelty Officer, who recommend the fine schedule set out in Section 167-3, and separately through the Department of Health, which oversees animal-related complaints Townshipwide under other articles of Chapter 167.