Livermore, CA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

California Code of Regulations, Title 14, § 671(a) is the operative exotic-pet rule that reaches Livermore residents: it is unlawful to import, transport, or possess a live animal on the state's restricted list without a permit issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The same subsection expressly preserves local authority, stating that 'cities and counties may also prohibit possession or require a permit for these and other species not requiring a state permit,' so Livermore keeps the power to go further than the state list through its own ordinance.

Section 671(b) explains how CDFW builds that list: animals the Fish and Game Commission has found are not normally domesticated in California are sorted into 'welfare animals' (marked 'W'), listed to prevent depletion of wild populations and protect animal welfare, and 'detrimental animals' (marked 'D'), listed because they threaten native wildlife, agriculture or public health and safety. The restricted list itself, printed in subsection (c), runs dozens of pages and covers specific bird families, primates, large cats, venomous reptiles and other wild mammals, fish and amphibians.

5, native, furbearer, game, threatened or fully-protected species are seized outright by the department, while other restricted wild animals give the possessor a written notice from an enforcing officer to transfer the animal to a permitted facility, move it out of state, or have it humanely destroyed, at the owner's expense; if the owner misses that deadline, the department seizes the animal itself, and unpaid seizure and holding costs can trigger a civil-penalty cost-recovery action under Fish and Game Code § 2125. 20, layers an additional local 'animal fancier' permit requirement on top of the state rule for anyone keeping an exotic animal in the city, separate from and in addition to the CDFW permit.