Moore County, NC Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 4-8(a) of the Moore County Code makes it unlawful for any person to 'possess or harbor any nondomestic animal that is dangerous to persons or property or which has the potential for being dangerous to persons or property,' with an express carve-out for bona fide circuses or petting zoos. The county's definitions in Section 4-1 flesh out what counts: an 'exotic animal' is one that is 'strikingly or excitingly different or unusual and not ordinarily kept as a pet or domesticated animal,' and the code lists lions, tigers, apes, monkeys, poisonous reptiles and poisonous spiders as examples, adding that any hybrid of a listed animal counts as exotic regardless of its genetic percentage.

A 'nondomestic animal' is separately defined as any carnivore, primate, bird, reptile or other venomous animal not covered by the domestic-animal definition, including hybrids. Subsection (c) of Section 4-8 also folds every animal under the county's care, whether a household pet, service companion, or an animal raised for food, work or sport, into the chapter's general food, water, shelter and space standards, applying accepted veterinary standards where the chapter doesn't address a particular species. Because the ban in subsection (a) turns on whether the animal is or could become dangerous rather than a fixed list, enforcement by Moore County Animal Operations and the Sheriff's Office looks at the individual animal. Violations carry the Chapter 4 general penalty under Section 4-10.