Animal Ordinances in Hennepin County, MN (2026)
2 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 2 cities in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
Verified from official government sources
Exotic Pets
Minnesota Statutes 346.155 ban private ownership of regulated exotic animals such as big cats, bears, and most primates. Hennepin County cities add their own restrictions on venomous reptiles, large constrictors, and farm animals in residential zones.
Exotic and Dangerous Pet Rules
Heavy RestrictionsMinn. Stat. § 346.155
346.155 POSSESSING REGULATED ANIMALS. Subdivision 1. Definitions. (e) "Regulated animal" means: (1) all members of the Felidae family including, but not limited to, lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, cheetahs, ocelots, and servals, but not including domestic cats or cats recognized as a domestic breed, registered as a domestic breed, and shown as a domestic breed by a national or international m...
Pet Limits
Hennepin County Public Health and HCSO investigate animal hoarding under Minnesota cruelty statutes 343.21 and city pet-limit ordinances. Cases often involve seizure, criminal charges, and required mental-health evaluations for owners.
Animal Hoarding Enforcement
Heavy RestrictionsMinn. Stat. § 343.21
343.21 OVERWORKING OR MISTREATING ANIMALS; PENALTY. Subdivision 1. Torture. No person shall overdrive, overload, torture, cruelly beat, neglect, or unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate, or kill any animal, or cruelly work any animal when it is unfit for labor, whether it belongs to that person or to another person. Subd. 2. Nourishment; shelter. No person shall deprive any animal over which the...
Animal Ordinances by City in Hennepin County
2 cities in Hennepin County have their own animal ordinances rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
All Hennepin County ordinances
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