10 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Marion County, Oregon.
Verified from official government sources
In residential zones outside city limits, Marion County Code 6.15 lets a resident of a single-family dwelling or duplex keep up to six hens on their lot. In the Woodburn or Silverton Urban Growth Boundary the maximum is three hens.
Marion County Code 6.15
For residential zones (outside city limits) Marion County Code 6.15 allows a resident of a single-family dwelling or duplex to keep hens on the lot on which the resident resides. The maximum number of hens allowed is six, except in the Woodburn or Silverton Urban Growth Boundary where the maximum is three.
Marion County prohibits dogs from running at large. A dog off the keeper's property and not under immediate control, restraint or command is 'at large.' It is a civil infraction under Marion County Code 6.05.050 and a Class B violation under state law ORS 609.060.
ORS 609.060
After 60 days from the date of the notice, every person keeping a dog shall prevent the dog from running at large in any county or city where prohibited. A person who is the keeper of a dog commits a Class B violation if the dog runs at large where prohibited.
Marion County does not ban any dog breed. Regulation is behavior-based: state law ORS 609.098 makes it a crime to maintain a 'dangerous dog,' defined by what a dog does — inflicting serious injury or killing a person — not by its breed.
ORS 609.098
'A dangerous dog' means a dog that: (a) Without provocation and in an aggressive manner inflicts serious physical injury, as defined in ORS 161.015, on a person or kills a person.
Marion County's Rural Zone Code prohibits beekeeping in the Single Family Residential (RS) zone. Keeping honeybees is treated as a farm use, allowed in the rural farm and forest zones (EFU, SA, FT, TC) and the Acreage Residential zone.
Marion County Rural Zone Code 17.126.020(A)(11)
… a conditional use permit is required in the RS and AR zones if there are more than 10 mammals over four months old. No birds or furbearing animals, other than pets, and no livestock, or beekeeping are permitted in RS zones.
Oregon bars new exotic-animal ownership. Under ORS 609.341 you may not keep an exotic animal without a valid State Department of Agriculture permit issued before January 1, 2010. ORS 609.305 defines exotic animals to include big cats, primates, non-domestic canids, most bears and crocodilians.
ORS 609.341
A person may not keep an exotic animal in this state unless the person possesses a valid State Department of Agriculture permit for that animal issued prior to January 1, 2010, or issued as provided in ORS 609.351.
Marion County has no general ordinance banning the feeding of deer, raccoons or other wildlife on private property — your city may. Wildlife is managed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), which discourages feeding and regulates it under state law.
In Marion County, animals raised for food, fur or monetary gain are livestock and a farm use. Farm use is allowed in the rural farm and forest zones (EFU, SA, FT, TC) and the Acreage Residential zone, but not in the Single Family Residential zone.
Marion County Rural Zone Code 17.110.223
Animals raised for food, fur or monetary gain are considered a form of livestock and a farm use. Farm use is allowed in the rural farm and forest zones (EFU, SA, FT, TC) and the Acreage Residential zone, but not the Single Family Residential zone.
Marion County has no separate 'hoarding' ordinance; hoarding is prosecuted as animal neglect under Oregon law. ORS 167.325 and 167.330 criminalize failing to provide minimum care, with enhanced felony penalties when a large number of animals (10 or 11 or more) are involved.
In Marion County's Rural Zone Code, a conditional use permit is required in the RS and AR zones if there are more than 10 mammals over four months old. Keeping four or more dogs, cats or pets for sale, breeding or boarding counts as a kennel.
Marion County Rural Zone Code 17.126.020(A)(11)
… a conditional use permit is required in the RS and AR zones if there are more than 10 mammals over four months old. No birds or furbearing animals, other than pets, and no livestock or beekeeping are permitted in RS zones.
Marion County does not license cats or set an at-large rule for them the way it does for dogs. Cats fall under the zoning 'pet' definition, but keeping four or more cats over four months old for sale, breeding or boarding meets the county's kennel definition.
Marion County Rural Zone Code 17.110.300 / Urban 16.49.140
Both the Rural Zone Code Chapter 17.110.300 and the Urban Zone Code Chapter 16.49.140 define 'Kennel' as keeping four or more dogs, or cats, or pets over the age of four months for the purpose of sale, lease, breeding, training, racing or boarding.
1 cities in Marion County have their own animal ordinances rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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