Benton County, OR Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Rescue Permits (2026)

Chapter 9's ban on using wild or exotic animals in traveling displays, defined at § 9.805 and prohibited at § 9.810(1), carries one exemption written specifically for rescuers: § 9.810(2)(b) excuses 'Veterinary clinics or wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facilities that are licensed or permitted by the State of Oregon' from the display ban. Read together with the rest of § 9.810(2), the ordinance defers to the state's own licensing system for wildlife rehabilitators rather than layering a separate county wildlife-rescue permit on top. Benton County's own permitting scheme in Chapter 9 runs the other direction: § 9.475 requires an 'Animal Rescue Entity' to register with the Records and Elections Department and comply with ORS 609.415 and ORS 609.420, but that registration track is built around Oregon's animal-rescue-entity statutes for companion animals, not wildlife rehabilitation, so a wildlife rescue's operative authorization remains its state wildlife permit.

Because the exemption is conditioned on holding a valid state license or permit, an operator without one is not covered by § 9.810(2)(b) and remains subject to the traveling-display ban and its penalties if it uses a listed wild or exotic animal in a display. The Animal Control Officer, per § 9.815, monitors and enforces Chapter 9 generally, including verifying whether an exemption claimed under § 9.810(2) actually applies.