Ventura, CA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

050(O) of the San Buenaventura Municipal Code takes a closed-list approach to exotic pets in the R-1 zone: wild animals may be permitted only if the animal is one of six named types, chipmunks or squirrels, turtles, raccoons, marmoset, spider or squirrel monkeys, nonpoisonous snakes, and hawks, falcons or other raptors. Any wild animal not on that list, including venomous snakes, large exotic cats, primates other than the three named monkey types, or any other undomesticated species, is not an authorized pet in the R-1 zone.

Even a listed animal cannot be kept without first obtaining any permit required by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and it must be maintained at least 35 feet from any school, church, hospital, place of business, residence, dwelling unit or other building used for human habitation, other than the dwelling on the same lot. The code also caps the purpose: subsection O(4) limits keeping to noncommercial purposes only, so breeding or selling these animals from a residential lot falls outside the permitted use.

Ventura's other close-in residential zones go further. 050(J) does the same in the R-2 two-family zone, meaning residents there cannot keep any wild animal, listed or not. 020, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both, with each day of continued violation counted separately.