Menifee, CA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)
Key Facts
- Skunks
- Prohibited as pets; trapping or holding banned citywide
- Other exotics
- Lions, primates, wolves, snakes need state vaccination/quarantine
- Enforcing agency
- Menifee Animal Services Director (City Manager or designee)
- Transport permit
- CDHS permit required under 17 Cal. Admin. Code § 2606.8
- Penalty
- Infraction; misdemeanor for quarantine interference, up to 1 yr jail
- Governing law
- Menifee Municipal Code § 10.04.180(G)-(H), Ord. 2018-252
Summary
Menifee's animal control code, Municipal Code Section 10.04.180(G)-(H), bans trapping, capturing, or keeping skunks as pets citywide under a standing rabies quarantine, and requires any other exotic or hybrid animal, from big cats and primates to venomous snakes, to be vaccinated and/or quarantined under state law. The Animal Services Director, the City Manager or a designee, enforces the chapter and can clear a skunk for transport only under a state health permit.
(G) In order to protect the public health from the hazard of rabies which has been found to exist in skunks, a quarantine is imposed to continue until released by the Director, whereby it is prohibited to trap or capture skunks for pets; to trap, capture, or hold skunks in captivity for any reason; to transport skunks from or into the City of Menifee except pursuant to a permit issued by the California Department of Health Services pursuant to Title 17, California Administrative Code, section 2606.8. (H) Any exotic or hybrid animal shall be vaccinated and/or quarantined pursuant to state law.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-15: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ordinance 2026-432, passed 4-15-2026).
Full Breakdown
Menifee Municipal Code Section 10.04.180 sits inside Chapter 10.04, the city's animal control ordinance (Ord. 2018-252), and subsection (G) singles out skunks for an outright pet ban: it imposes a standing quarantine 'to continue until released by the Director' that makes it 'prohibited to trap or capture skunks for pets; to trap, capture, or hold skunks in captivity for any reason.' The only lawful way to move a skunk into or out of Menifee is 'pursuant to a permit issued by the California Department of Health Services pursuant to Title 17, California Administrative Code, section 2606.8.' Subsection (H) then extends a lighter rule to the wider category of exotic pets: 'Any exotic or hybrid animal shall be vaccinated and/or quarantined pursuant to state law.' Chapter 10.04's definitions spell out what counts: an EXOTIC ANIMAL is 'any animal which is not normally domesticated in the United States including, but not limited to, any lion, tiger, bear, non-human primate (monkey, chimpanzee, etc.), wolf, coyote, cougar, bobcat, ocelot, wildcat, skunk, boa, python, reptile, amphibian, bird, or venomous snake,' regardless of how tame the individual animal is asserted to be.
A HYBRID ANIMAL is defined separately as any animal that is 'part wild animal and is capable of transmitting rabies,' excluding livestock hybrids, where no state-approved rabies vaccine exists. The Director administers the rabies-suppression program and may post quarantine signs on premises housing a quarantined animal; removing that sign without permission is itself a violation. Section 10.04.220 makes any Chapter 10.04 violation, including this one, an infraction punishable by a City Council-set fine, with each day of continued noncompliance charged as a separate offense, while interfering with a rabies quarantine or investigation is elevated to a misdemeanor under California Health and Safety Code Section 121710 and California Food and Agricultural Code Section 9701, carrying up to one year in county jail.
Violations & Fines
Trapping, holding, or keeping a skunk as a pet in Menifee is an infraction under Section 10.04.220, with a City Council-set fine and each day of noncompliance counted as a separate offense. Failing to vaccinate or quarantine another exotic or hybrid animal as required by state law under Section 10.04.180(H) carries the same infraction penalty. Interfering with a skunk quarantine, removing a posted quarantine sign, or resisting the Animal Services Director escalates to a misdemeanor under California Health and Safety Code Section 121710, punishable by up to a year in county jail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep a pet skunk in Menifee?
What counts as an exotic animal under Menifee's code?
Do I need a permit to own a wolf-dog hybrid?
What happens if I violate the skunk quarantine?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Menifee
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