Saint Paul, MN Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

01 of the Legislative Code defines a 'regulated animal' as any Felidae (lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, cheetahs, ocelots, servals, but not domestic cats), any bear, any nonhuman primate (lemurs, monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, marmosets, lorises, tamarins), and any hybrid of these with a domestic animal. 03(a) then flatly prohibits keeping, maintaining, selling or harboring, within the city, any animal or species already banned by federal or Minnesota law; any exotic animal kept in numbers or conditions that endanger people, the animals themselves, or property, or that create a nuisance; any skunk, vaccinated or not; any regulated animal obtained after January 1, 2005; any member of the family Canidae such as wolves, dingoes, coyotes and jackals except domesticated dogs, and any dog-coyote or dog-wolf crossbreed; any raccoon; any red-eared turtle under four inches in shell length; any sugar glider; and any rooster.

Regulated animals lawfully acquired before January 1, 2005 aren't automatically illegal, but Sec. 055 requires the owner to register the animal in writing with the animal services officer within 60 days, listing species, microchip number if available, exact keeping location and physical description, and to pay registration and site-inspection fees under Sec. 18. Owners must also report an address change within ten days and forward any USDA inspection report within 30 days. Limited exceptions apply to circuses, public zoos and their volunteers, bona fide research institutions and veterinary hospitals with adequate containment, and the statutory exemptions in Minn.

155, subd. 7. The environmental health officer within the Department of Safety and Inspections enforces the chapter, and Sec. 08 makes a violation of Sec. 03 a misdemeanor.