Warren, MI Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

City Code Sec. 7-79 prohibits any person from owning, possessing, breeding, exchanging, buying, selling, or harboring any dangerous or exotic animal within the city, a flat outright ban rather than a permitting scheme. The only carve-out is for organizations or entities accredited by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AZA), meaning accredited zoos and aquariums may hold exotic animals but private residents and unaccredited businesses may not. A companion provision, Sec. 7-80, separately bars confining wild animals on any premises in any zoning district citywide, with narrow exceptions for AZA-accredited organizations and for a person holding a valid possession permit from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources under the Wildlife Conservation Order for temporary, noncommercial shelter or treatment of an injured or abandoned wild animal until it can be released.

Together the two sections close off both purpose-bred or purchased exotic pets (Sec. 7-79) and captive wild animals generally (Sec. 7-80) within Warren, regardless of zoning district. Both were enacted as part of the citywide animal-code recodification, Ord. No. 80-834, effective June 24, 2025.