Mosinee, WI Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 10-9(c) of the Mosinee Code of Ordinances opens with a general ban on keeping, maintaining, or possessing any poisonous reptile or any other dangerous or carnivorous wild animal, insect, or reptile, or any vicious or dangerous domesticated animal, within the city. It then lists 30 specific categories, including all apes, baboons, bears, bison, cheetahs, crocodilians 30 inches or longer, constrictor snakes six feet or longer, coyotes, elephants, hyenas, jaguars, leopards, lions, lynxes, old-world monkeys, pumas, rhinoceroses, sharks, snow leopards, tigers, and wolves, alongside poisonous insects and gamecocks or other fighting birds.

A separate part of the same section, 10-9(a), bans possessing wild cats, polar bears, red wolves, vicuna, alligators, caimans, crocodiles, gray or timber wolves, sea otters, and several sea turtle species for sale, and 10-9(a)(2) bars trading in any species on the federal endangered species list. Section 10-9(d) exempts creatures in the care of a veterinarian, at agricultural fairs, in 4-H Club shows or projects, in judging displays, with an itinerant carnival or circus, at dog or cat shows, at public or private schools, in licensed pet shops, or at a zoological garden, but only if the facility's location conforms to the city's zoning ordinance, keeps clean and sanitary quarters that eliminate odors, is built to prevent the animals from escaping, and keeps no one living within 100 feet of the animal quarters. A private owner keeping a listed species purely as a pet does not fit any of those exceptions.