Yuma, AZ Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

City Code § 130-057, part of the Keeping Animals subchapter of Chapter 130, bars anyone from keeping or maintaining a poisonous reptile or a dangerous, carnivorous wild animal inside the city without first registering it with the Chief of Police. Registration is not automatic: the Chief of Police may prescribe regulations to insure the safe penning or caging of such animals or reptiles, meaning the department can set case-by-case caging, fencing or containment conditions before signing off on a particular animal. The rule sits alongside the neighboring swine ban at § 130-056 (no swine except registered miniature potbellied pigs under 100 pounds, capped at three per household) and the area limitations of § 130-058, which separately caps ordinary household pets at six per household on lots under 10,000 square feet.

Unlike those numeric limits, § 130-057 does not name a species list; a dangerous, carnivorous wild animal and a poisonous reptile are read case by case by the Police Department when a resident applies. Because federal Yuma Proving Ground and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma land, and Quechan and Cocopah tribal trust land, fall outside city jurisdiction, § 130-057 only reaches animals kept within the incorporated city limits. A violation carries the general Chapter 130 penalty at § 130-999, and an animal kept in violation can also be handled as a dangerous animal under §§ 130-007 and 130-008, including destruction at a police officer's discretion if it cannot be safely impounded.