Kings County, CA Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Rescue Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Wild animal keeping
- requires secure confinement, § 4-91
- Release into county
- prohibited outright, § 4-95
- Escaped animals
- must be reported immediately
- Unreleasable animals
- go to a rehab organization
- Permit
- no county wildlife-rescue permit exists
Summary
Kings County doesn't issue a dedicated wildlife-rescue permit: instead it requires anyone who keeps a wild animal to provide secure confinement, bans releasing wild animals into the county outright, and routes impounded wildlife to a rehabilitation organization.
No person shall have, keep or maintain any wild animal unless adequate provisions are made for its confinement and control to insure the maintenance of public peace, health and safety. ... No person, organization, society, association or corporation shall import or release into Kings County any wild animal, whether indigenous to Kings County or not.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 13).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 4, Article V of the Kings County Code prohibits keeping a wild animal, one wild by nature and not customarily domesticated locally, without adequate confinement for public safety, and separately bars anyone from importing or releasing any wild animal into the county, indigenous or not. If an escaped wild animal is impounded and can't be returned to its owner after an animal control inspection confirms proper confinement, the county releases it to an appropriate wild animal rehabilitation organization rather than turning it loose. There's no county permit specific to wildlife rescue operations themselves.
Violations & Fines
Keeping a wild animal without adequate confinement, or importing/releasing one into the county, is an infraction under § 1-8.1 via Chapter 4's general penalty section, § 4-10.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Kings County issue permits for wildlife rehabbers or rescue operations?
What happens to a wild animal Kings County impounds after it escapes confinement?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kings County
California rules heatmap·Compare Kings County to another location·View the California animal ordinances overview
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