Wicomico County, MD Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Wicomico County does not run a separate exotic-animal permit system; instead § 133-6 of the Animal Control chapter writes Maryland's own wild-animal possession ban into county law and gives the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office and Animal Control Authority a local enforcement hook. Subsection A bars any person from bringing into the state, possessing, or breeding a fox, skunk, raccoon, bear, caiman, alligator, crocodile, any member of the cat family other than the domestic cat, any member of the dog family other than the domestic dog, a nonhuman primate such as a monkey or chimpanzee, certain poisonous snakes, and the other species specified in § 10-621(b) of the Maryland Criminal Law Article, subject to that state statute's own exceptions, which cover situations such as licensed exhibitors, research institutions, and animals held before the ban took effect.

The same section, in its remaining subsections, separately bars cropping or docking a dog's ears, tail or dewclaws, surgically debarking a dog or devocalizing a cat or dog, using birds or dogs for fighting, and altering the natural color of a young chick, duckling or other fowl. Because § 133-6 incorporates the state prohibition rather than restating every exception, an owner who believes an animal qualifies for a state-law exemption needs to document that exemption to the Animal Control Authority to avoid enforcement action in unincorporated Wicomico County. C makes clear the chapter is not meant to limit the Sheriff's Office's own independent authority over animal-related crimes.