La Mesa, CA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 8.04.010 defines 'wild/exotic animal' broadly: any animal not normally domesticated within the United States or not normally allowed as a pet in California under the state Department of Fish and Game's rules, expressly naming lions, ferrets, tigers, ocelots, cougars, bobcats, wildcats, bears, raccoons, foxes, wolves, coatimundis, skunks, opossums, coyotes and nonhuman primates such as monkeys and chimpanzees, regardless of how tame or long-domesticated the individual animal is. Section 8.04.020 makes owning, possessing or maintaining any such animal within city limits flatly unlawful, with a single carve-out for certain birds of prey kept in compliance with California Department of Fish and Game rules.

The same section separately bans poisonous reptiles outright, naming the families Elapidae, Viperidae and Crotalidae, the boomslang and vine snake species within Colubridae, and every lizard species in the genus Heloderma, regardless of whether the animal would otherwise qualify as exotic. The La Mesa Police Department's animal control officer administers and enforces Title 8 under Section 8.04.070 and can issue citations under California Penal Code Section 836.5. Because ordinary household pets under Section 8.04.010 are defined to exclude wild animals, domestic poultry, livestock, or any animal whose ownership is otherwise prohibited, an owner cannot rely on a 'household pet' defense once an animal control officer identifies it as falling within the wild/exotic list.