Pontiac, MI Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 18-18(d), Neighborhood sanitation
- Covered animals
- Raccoons, skunks, pigeons, feral cats, and more
- Ground feeding
- Prohibited outright, including scattering food scraps
- Exception
- Elevated feeder, 48+ inches, blocking other wildlife
- Violation type
- Municipal civil infraction (§ 18-18(c))
- Added
- Ordinance No. 2149, October 17, 2002
Summary
In the City of Pontiac, City Code § 18-18(d) makes it unlawful to feed any wild animal anywhere in the city, defining wild animals broadly to include raccoons, skunks, rodents, rabbits, crows, pigeons, doves, seagulls, feral cats and more. All ground feeding is banned outright, but feeding birds or squirrels from an elevated container at least 48 inches high remains allowed.
(c) Violation of this section shall be a municipal civil infraction. (d) Feeding of wild animals and birds prohibited except the feeding of birds and squirrels by means of an elevated feeder. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to feed any wild animal in any area in the city. Wild animals shall include all raccoons, skunks, rodents, rabbits, crows, wild birds, including without limitation, pigeons, doves, and seagulls, feral cats, mice, fowl, waterfowl, gophers, groundhogs, moles, opossums, squirrels, and every other wild animal. (2) All ground feeding is prohibited. ... (3) This prohibition shall not apply to the feeding of wild birds or squirrels provided that such feeding is done only from containers and supports which prohibit access by other rodents and/or wild animals, and are elevated at least 48 inches above ground level.
Full Breakdown
Section 18-18, Neighborhood sanitation, pairs its better-known pet-waste rules with a wildlife-feeding ban in subsection (d): feeding of wild animals and birds is prohibited except the feeding of birds and squirrels by means of an elevated feeder. Paragraph (1) makes it unlawful to feed any wild animal in any area of the city and defines wild animals to include all raccoons, skunks, rodents, rabbits, crows, wild birds (expressly naming pigeons, doves and seagulls), feral cats, mice, fowl, waterfowl, gophers, groundhogs, moles, opossums, squirrels, and every other wild animal.
Paragraph (2) bans all ground feeding outright and makes scattering food or food scraps on the ground prima facie evidence of an intent to ground-feed. Paragraph (3) carves out the only exception: feeding wild birds or squirrels is allowed if done only from containers and supports that prohibit access by other rodents or wild animals and that are elevated at least 48 inches above ground level. The subsection was added by Ordinance No. 2149 on October 17, 2002, and amended by Ordinance No. 2396 in 2022 and Ordinance No.
2411 on June 6, 2023. Section 18-18(c) sets its own penalty, separate from the Code's general clause: any violation of § 18-18, including the feeding ban in subsection (d), is a municipal civil infraction, and enforcement runs through the Pontiac Police Department under § 18-2.
Violations & Fines
Feeding a raccoon, skunk, pigeon, feral cat or any other wild animal anywhere in Pontiac, or scattering food on the ground for wildlife, violates § 18-18(d) and is a municipal civil infraction under § 18-18(c), enforced by the Pontiac Police Department. Feeding birds or squirrels only from a container elevated at least 48 inches, with access blocked to other wildlife, stays lawful under the subsection (3) exception.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
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Wildlife Feeding in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Oakland County handle wildlife feeding.