Roseville, MN Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Rescue Permits (2026)

Roseville treats wildlife possession as a permit question first. Section 501.21(a) makes it unlawful to keep any wild animal within the city limits except as the section permits, and the definition in subsection (b) reaches animals that are wild by nature or inherently dangerous to human beings. Subsection (c)(3) is the carve-out for rescue work: wildlife rehabilitators can possess wild animals only with a state department of natural resources permit. That subsection names no city rehabilitator license. The state permit is the gate, and the city adds a housekeeping condition: the animals must be kept in a manner that does not create unsanitary conditions or unreasonable noise.

The city permit in subsection (c)(1) is a separate and narrower track. It lasts no more than 30 days, specifies the conditions under which the animal is kept, and is issued only when the animal is kept by a person acting for a public zoo as a volunteer or docent. Permanent permits go to a public zoo or other institution engaged in a permanent display of animals, a bona fide research institution, or a veterinary hospital, provided applicable zoning requirements are met. Skunks, raccoons, foxes and protected animals are named as wild animals in subsection (b)(5), so those are the species a rehabilitator is most likely to handle under the state permit. Birds and birds of prey kept under a valid federal fish and wildlife service permit are a separate exception in subsection (c)(2)d.

Subsection (d) lets the city impound any wild animal kept in violation of the section. The animal can be destroyed or sold five days after notice to the owner, and the person reclaiming it pays impounding and boarding costs at release. Section 501.24 allows community service officers, reserve officers and police officers to enter private land where there is reasonable cause to believe Chapter 501 is being violated. Chapter 509 on trapping borrows the § 501.21 definition for its own term nuisance animal.