Islip, NY Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Chapter 12, Article III, adopted 3-3-1981, opens with a Town Board finding at § 12-21 that "the suburban nature of the Town" means "no part thereof is suitable for the maintenance of wild animals," citing both public safety and animal-cruelty concerns. Section 12-22 defines WILD ANIMAL broadly as any species that is "wild, dangerous or ferocious" in its natural habitat, even if trained and domesticated, and lists examples: all canidae except domestic dogs, all felidae except the common domestic cat, birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, falcons and owls, venomous or constricting snakes, venomous insects such as tarantulas, black widow spiders and scorpions, and venomous lizards, snapping turtles, alligators and iguanas.

Section 12-23(A) prohibits possession townwide except in a zoological park, a laboratory operated under Public Health Law § 504, a Town Board-permitted carnival, circus or public outdoor show, or a chartered educational or scientific institution; a 1981 amendment also lets a state-licensed person keep raptors. Any lawfully possessed wild animal must be kept in "protective devices which are adequate to prevent such animals from escaping or from injuring the public" (§ 12-23(B)), and § 12-23(C) bars offering, selling or giving any wild animal to any person or institution in the Town.

Section 12-24 makes the owner or anyone with immediate control of the animal liable for a violation, and § 12-26 gave existing possessors only six months from the Article's 1981 effective date to remove any wild animal from Town limits.