Lake Havasu City, AZ Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Lake Havasu City's animal code draws a hard line on exotic and wild-animal ownership. Section 6.12.070 states flatly that no wild animals may be kept within the city, carving out only circuses, zoos, and educational institutions using them for exhibition, and even those exhibitors must follow regulations set by the city and the State of Arizona. There is no private-keeper permit path in the chapter: the exception is institutional, not individual, so a resident cannot license a big cat, primate, or venomous reptile the way some state wildlife programs allow.

Lake Havasu City Animal Control, which operates under Title 6's enforcement chapter, may capture any uncontrolled wild or domestic animal under § 6.12.040, and § 6.12.050 lets an officer destroy a dangerous, vicious, or fierce animal immediately if it cannot be safely impounded. Because Chapter 6.12 sets no separate fine for keeping a wild animal, § 6.24.070 supplies the default: violating any provision of Title 6 is a Class 2 misdemeanor unless the code states otherwise, and every day the animal remains in a person's custody counts as a new offense, so a prolonged violation compounds quickly in Lake Havasu City Municipal Court.

Owners who dispute a seizure can request a postseizure hearing under § 6.24.020 by signing and returning a declaration of ownership to the court within 10 days, but that hearing only tests whether the animal was lawfully seized, not whether keeping the species is legal in the first place. Anyone found harboring a wild animal should expect Animal Control to remove it rather than issue a keep-at-home order, since the ordinance's only lawful custodians are licensed circuses, zoos, and schools using the animal for exhibition.