Sioux City Municipal Code Title 7 addresses dangerous and wild animals through general restraint and nuisance provisions, and the Zoning Code does not list exotic species as a customary residential accessory use. Statewide, Iowa Code Chapter 717F (Dangerous Wild Animals) prohibits any person from owning, possessing, breeding, or importing dangerous wild animals into Iowa, including big cats, bears, primates, wolves, hyenas, and venomous reptiles, subject to limited grandfather and accredited-facility exceptions.
Sioux City regulates exotic and wild animals through two overlapping frameworks. Locally, Title 7 (Animals) of the Sioux City Municipal Code at https://online.encodeplus.com/regs/siouxcity-ia/ uses general restraint, nuisance, and dangerous-animal provisions to address species kept in residential settings, and Title 25 zoning does not list exotic species as a customary residential accessory use. Statewide, Iowa Code Chapter 717F (Dangerous Wild Animals) at https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/ico/chapter/717F.pdf prohibits any person from owning, possessing, breeding, transporting, selling, or importing dangerous wild animals in Iowa. The definition covers lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, mountain lions, cougars, bears, wolves, hyenas, primates, crocodilians, venomous reptiles, and most large constricting snakes. A narrow grandfather clause allows people who owned a dangerous wild animal on July 1, 2007 to continue possession if they registered with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and meet caging, insurance, and inspection standards; new acquisitions are barred. AZA-accredited zoos, USDA Class C licensees, wildlife sanctuaries, and research institutions are also exempt. Common household pets — ferrets, parrots, non-venomous reptiles, rabbits, sugar gliders, hedgehogs — are not 'dangerous wild animals' under Chapter 717F but may still draw nuisance review from Sioux City Animal Control. In 2022 the Sioux City Council considered an additional reptile-keeping ordinance after a USARK-flagged proposal; residents should call Sioux City Animal Control before acquiring any unusual pet.
Keeping a dangerous wild animal in Sioux City in violation of Iowa Code Chapter 717F is a serious misdemeanor for a first offense and an aggravated misdemeanor for subsequent offenses, with fines up to $5,000 per violation and seizure of the animal by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Sioux City Animal Control can also pursue local nuisance citations under Title 7 with municipal infraction fines and abatement orders. Animals seized for public safety are placed with accredited sanctuaries or zoos at the owner's expense.
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See how Sioux City's exotic pets rules stack up against other locations.
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