Newark, NJ Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 6:2-17 of the Revised General Ordinances, part of Article 3 (Cattle, Horses, Sheep, Goats, Swine) of Chapter 6:2, makes it unlawful to expose, exhibit or display certain animals in public or semi-public spaces anywhere in Newark. The list covers horses, sheep, swine, goats, cows, calves and cattle alongside boa constrictors or other types of snakes or reptiles which pose a threat of serious bodily injury or death to a person or other domestic animals. The prohibited locations are broad: any public street, sidewalk or highway in the City, any public ground, and the public-access areas of single-family or multi-family residential buildings, specifically naming entranceways, lobbies, hallways, laundry rooms, attics, basements and porch areas.

The section does not outlaw owning a snake inside a private residence; it targets exposing or exhibiting the animal where the public or other residents in a building can encounter it. A related section, 6:2-16, separately bars keeping horses, cattle, swine, goats or sheep inside any dwelling house at all, so livestock housed indoors is already covered there. Enforcement of Chapter 6:2 runs through the Division of Health and Community Wellness and the Newark Police Department, the same agencies that administer the permits, licenses and impounding provisions running through the rest of the chapter.

Anyone displaying a boa constrictor in a building lobby or walking dangerous livestock down a Newark sidewalk is violating Section 6:2-17 regardless of whether the animal is otherwise legally owned. The rule reads as public-safety protection for shared spaces rather than a blanket exotic-pet ownership ban.