Lakeville, MN Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Lakeville's prohibited animals ordinance, City Code section 5-1-19, lists six categories of animals residents may not possess or keep anywhere in the city. Subsection A bars any member of the cat family such as lions, tigers, cougars, bobcats, leopards and jaguars, while excluding ordinary domesticated house cats. Subsection B bars naturally wild canine family members, including wolves, foxes, coyotes, dingoes and jackals, again excluding domesticated dogs. Subsection C closes the obvious loophole by also prohibiting hybrids and crossbreeds between those wild cats or canines and a domestic animal, and all subsequent generations of those crosses, naming the wolf-dog cross specifically.

Subsection D reaches rodent-family relatives kept as exotic pets, including skunks, raccoons and squirrels, while still allowing commonly accepted domesticated rodent pets. Subsection E targets poisonous, venomous, constricting or otherwise inherently dangerous reptiles and amphibians, listing rattlesnakes, boa constrictors, pit vipers, crocodiles and alligators as examples. Subsection F is a catchall reaching any other animal reasonably covered by the section's purpose, naming bears, deer, non-human primates and game fish. The ordinance carves out only two narrow exceptions: an interim use permit approved under the zoning ordinance before May 15, 2017, or possession as part of a zoo program the State of Minnesota has licensed, and even that zoo exception is capped at thirty days. The prohibition was adopted by Ordinance 1015 on August 5, 2019, replacing older, narrower animal-keeping rules that predated the current chapter.