Portsmouth, VA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

' The section defines a 'wild animal' as one incapable of being completely domesticated and that requires the exercise of art, force, or skill to keep it in subjection, a definition used to determine whether an unlisted species still falls under the ban. Unlike the exotic-animal permit track in § 4-33, which lets an owner keep certain species (hybrid-canines, hybrid-felines, monkeys, ratites, large nonpoisonous reptiles, and crocodilians) after passing an animal control inspection and obtaining a permit from the city treasurer's office, § 4-11 offers no permit path for the animals it lists; ownership is prohibited outright with no application process.

Section 4-13 separately requires that any animal known to be vicious or destructive, wild-animal or not, be securely confined if kept at all, in a locked enclosure at least six feet high, but that confinement provision does not authorize keeping the § 4-11 wild animals, since their keeping remains prohibited regardless of confinement measures. Enforcement runs through the chapterwide penalty at § 4-12: a violation is a class 4 misdemeanor unless the chapter specifies otherwise, tied to the fine schedule at § 1-11, and the animal control officer appointed under § 4-2 has authority to seize an animal kept in violation.