Hanover County, VA Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Rescue Permits (2026)

Hanover County Code section 4-80(a) generally requires a county permit before anyone can keep a wild, exotic or vicious animal on their property, but it carves out an exception for wildlife rescuers: persons holding a category I, II, or III wildlife rehabilitation permit issued by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries may possess native wild animals for rehabilitation, so long as they stay within the conditions of that state permit and comply with applicable state law. That means a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Hanover County outside the Town of Ashland does not need to apply to the chief animal control officer for a separate local wild-animal permit to house injured or orphaned native wildlife, provided the animals are native species covered by the rehabilitator's state permit category and the person follows the state permit's terms.

The exemption is narrow: it covers only native wild animals held under a valid state rehabilitation permit, not exotic non-native species, and not animals kept for any purpose other than rehabilitation. Section 4-82 gives the chief animal control officer authority to enforce article III generally, so a rehabilitator operating outside the bounds of their state permit, or keeping non-native or non-rehab animals, would fall back under the standard section 4-80 county permit requirement and could be required to dispose of unpermitted animals under section 4-83, which lets the animal control officer authorize removal from the county, transfer to a zoo or government facility, or euthanasia.