Smyrna, GA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 14-14 is a named-species prohibition with a catch-all. The listed animals are skunks, foxes, prairie dogs, raccoons, coyotes, wolves, hybrid wolves, any hybrid animal that is part wild animal, and exotic cats. The closing words, any other wildlife, pull in everything the chapter defines as wildlife: any animal indigenous to Georgia that is not a domestic animal, including any hybrid that is part wild. The verbs are broad: purchase, sell, own, possess, harbor or breed. The single exception is a license from the respective federal or state department of agriculture to possess the animal, and the chapter defines licensed as holding a valid Georgia State license.

Ferrets are treated differently. Section 14-15 allows a European ferret to be sold, purchased, exhibited or held as a pet if the owner can produce documentation that it was spayed or neutered before seven months of age and is vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian using a vaccine approved for ferrets by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Related rules sit nearby. Section 14-137(b) bars high-risk rabies carriers such as foxes, raccoons and skunks from petting zoos or any exhibition where they can contact people. Under § 14-66.2, a wild animal caught in a humane trap must be taken to the animal shelter, and § 14-67(c) provides that wildlife in the custody of Cobb County Animal Control (CCAC) is not deemed impounded and need not be held for a minimum time. The chapter is enforced by CCAC and the Smyrna Police Department's animal control officers. Because the prohibition includes breeding and selling, it also reaches anyone advertising these animals from a Smyrna address.