Troup County, GA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Troup County Code § 14-1 defines "animal" to include any domesticated or wild creature, including fowl, fish and reptiles, and defines a permit as the health department application required to commercially keep, breed, buy, sell, exhibit or board animals. Section 14-43 makes that permit mandatory for anyone who possesses, buys, sells or displays an animal commercially, and requires the applicant to give the health department a list of the kinds of animals to be kept and the estimated maximum number on hand at any one time; the occasional sale of domesticated farm animals as an accessory to normal farm operations is exempt.

Section 14-50 layers additional, wild-animal-specific duties onto that permit: the permittee assumes full responsibility for safekeeping the animal and recapturing it if it escapes, must make adequate provisions and safeguards to protect the public, and, if the permit is for educational display, must have printed information about the animal's habits available for the public or post explanatory signs prominently near the exhibit. The animal control department (Sec. 14-2) and county health department jointly administer these permits, and citations for chapter 14 violations may be issued by the Troup County Marshal or by the Building Official's code enforcement inspectors under Sec. 1-19(e).