Wylie, TX Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Wylie Code of Ordinances § 18-7 bars any owner from keeping or permitting a wild animal to be kept on premises they own or control for sale, display or exhibition, whether the activity is gratuitous or for a fee, and separately bars anyone from keeping a wild animal as a pet or as a source of food; the only carve-out in the section is for zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions or circuses. Section 18-1 defines "wild animal" broadly by class and family, expressly naming venomous reptile families, crocodilians, raptors, and, within Class Mammalia's Order Carnivora, Family Felidae (lions, tigers, bobcats, jaguars, leopards and cougars, except commonly domesticated cats) and Family Canidae (wolves, dingoes, coyotes, foxes and jackals and their hybrids, except commonly domesticated dogs), among other listed families such as Mustelidae, Procyonidae, Ursidae and primates.

The definition applies regardless of how long the animal has been kept in captivity, and covers hybrids of listed species unless certified for medical, biological, herpetological or other scientific research. It expressly excludes livestock, fowl, and household pets such as dogs, cats, cockatiels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, rabbits, fish, or small nonpoisonous reptiles or snakes. Under § 18-7(c), any feline caught in a properly set humane trap that lacks a current city license and rabies tags is treated as feral and disposed of in the normal fashion under the city's impoundment rules, tying the wild-animal ban to the broader Chapter 18 animal services enforcement structure administered by animal services officers within the police department.