Portage County, WI Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 7.1.6 governs the General Agricultural District (A4), one of the zoning districts applying to the towns that have adopted Portage County zoning. Subsection (2)(c), Special Exception Uses, allows a list of uses only 'after such use shall have been approved in writing by the Board of Adjustment, after public hearing,' with approval turning on 'such evidence as may be presented at such public hearing, tending to show the desirability of specific uses from the standpoint of the public interest' given factors like noise, odor, dust, glare, and traffic.

Item 22 on that list is 'Zoological centers, zoos, housing of exotic animals,' placed beside item 23, 'Wildlife and nature centers and associated buildings and uses.' Because it sits among special exceptions like kennels, shooting ranges, and slaughterhouses rather than the district's by-right uses, keeping or housing exotic animals in the A4 district is not automatically allowed: it requires an application to and written approval from the Board of Adjustment, and any operation must conform to the plan the Board approves plus any further conditions it sets.

Portage County's Animal Control chapter separately defines 'Wild animal' at § 4.9.3(26) to include any live monkey or other non-human primate, raccoon, skunk, fox, wolf, wolf hybrid, poisonous snake, snake over three feet, leopard, panther, tiger, lion, or lynx, and excludes wild animals from the definition of an animal an owner 'harbors' under the same chapter.