Wyandotte County, KS Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)
Key Facts
- Banned use
- Exhibition, sale, or pet use of wild/exotic animals
- Exempt small pets
- Ferrets, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs
- Falconry exemption
- Raptors under K.A.R. 115-1-1
- Monkey grandfather clause
- Pre-Dec. 31, 1992 owners only
- Penalty
- $50-$1,000 fine, up to 180 days jail
- Disposal option
- Surrender to animal control or a zoo
Summary
Wyandotte County's Unified Government bans keeping wild or exotic animals as pets or for exhibition anywhere in Kansas City, Kansas under Sec. 7-13, with narrow exceptions for licensed zoos, circuses, veterinary clinics, small pocket pets, falconry raptors, and a 1992 grandfather clause for monkeys.
No person shall keep or permit to be kept on such person's premises any wild or exotic animals for exhibition purposes, whether gratuitously or for a fee, or as a pet. This section shall not be construed to apply to zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions, circuses or veterinary clinics that are properly licensed by the state or the federal government. In no case, however, shall such wild or exotic animals be exhibited or displayed in such a manner that persons other than their handlers can pet, fondle, or otherwise come in direct physical contact with such animals. A wild or exotic animal is a nondomesticated animal or any animal which can normally be found in the wild state, excluding unowned ear-tipped feral cats, rabbits, ferrets, gerbils, hamsters, mice, guinea pigs, small amphibians, laboratory rats which have been bred in captivity and which have never known the wild, birds and fish normally kept as pets, raptors for the purpose of falconry in accordance with the state department of wildlife and parks regulations, K.A.R. 115-1-1 and K.A.R. 115-14-10.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 7-13(a) makes it unlawful to keep or permit to be kept on any premises a wild or exotic animal, whether displayed for a fee, gratuitously, or simply as a pet, and bars direct public contact even where an exhibition is otherwise lawful: only the animal's handlers may touch it. R. R. 115-14-10. Zoological parks, performing-animal exhibitions, circuses and properly licensed veterinary clinics also fall outside the ban. A narrow grandfather clause lets residents keep monkeys that were already kept as pets in the city as of December 31, 1992, or monkeys currently used as ADA service animals, provided the owner obtains a health certificate showing the animal disease-free, gets the housing facility certified by animal control, and keeps the monkey in that certified facility at all times.
Sec. 7-13(b) lets an owner who keeps a wild, exotic or vicious animal unlawfully dispose of it by giving or selling it to a zoological park, or by surrendering it to the supervisor of animal control, who may then release it to the wild or to a zoo.
Violations & Fines
Because Sec. 7-13 is not among the sections carrying its own fine schedule in Sec. 7-2, a violation falls under the chapter's general misdemeanor penalty in Sec. 7-2(a): a fine of not less than $50.00 nor more than $1,000.00, up to 180 days in the county jail, or both, with each day of continued violation charged as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I legally own a monkey in Kansas City, Kansas?
Are ferrets or hamsters considered exotic animals under this code?
What happens to an exotic animal seized under this section?
What is the penalty for keeping a banned wild animal?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Wyandotte County
Compare Wyandotte County to another location·View the Kansas animal ordinances overview
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