Sandy, UT Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Chapter 12-4 opens by finding that Sandy's urban deer population threatens native plants through excessive foraging, can transmit disease to humans, increases deer-vehicle collisions, and damages landscaping and gardens, and that the chapter is meant to reduce those threats by not actively encouraging deer to stay. Section 12-4-2 then bars anyone from intentionally feeding or making food available for deer, elk, or moose, on private or public property, listing fruit, grain, hay, salt licks, vegetables, nuts, and seeds placed outdoors for their consumption. A property owner who has such materials on their land must remove them, and failing to do so within 24 hours of a notice from the City is a separate Class C misdemeanor.

The materials themselves are declared a public nuisance that the City can abate summarily through civil action or pursue through criminal prosecution. Section 12-4-3 carves out two exemptions: City police officers, Animal Control Officers, and federal or state wildlife officials acting within their authority aren't covered, and neither is naturally growing vegetation or vegetation deliberately planted in yards, gardens, or beds, even if deer happen to eat it. The ban is specific to deer, elk, and moose; it doesn't reach bird feeders, squirrel feed, or feeding domestic strays.