You can report people keeping wild or illegal animals as pets. Where applicable, you must provide the landlord's or property owner's name. By law, most farm, wild, and exotic animals cannot be kept as pets in New York City.
Animals Allowed as Pets
You can keep the following animals as pets:
- Domesticated cat or dog
- Rabbit
- Horse
- Gerbil, hamster, guinea pig, chinchilla, and other small animals
- Parakeet, parrot, pigeon, canary, hen or female chicken, other small birds
- Non-snapping turtle larger than 4 inches
- Certain reptiles
- Honeybees
Pigeon coops are also allowed if they are properly maintained and constructed.
Animals Not Allowed as Pets
You can't keep the following animals as pets:
- Wolves, foxes, coyotes, hyenas, dingoes, jackals, and other undomesticated dogs
- Lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, pumas, panthers, mountain lions, cheetahs, cougars, bobcats, lynxes, and other undomesticated cats
- Ferrets, weasels, minks, badgers, wolverines, skunks, and mongooses
- Squirrels, raccoons, and bats
- Bears, elephants, zebras, rhinoceroses, giraffes, and hippopotamuses
- Tarantulas, black widows, and other venomous spiders
- Iguanas, Gila monsters, and many other lizards
- Monkeys, apes, chimpanzees, and gorillas
- Vipers, cobras, pythons, anacondas, and many other snakes
- Alligators, crocodiles, snapping turtles, and other turtles less than four inches in length
- Eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, vultures, emus, ostriches, and other large or predatory birds
- Roosters, ducks, geese, and turkeys
- Bees (other than honeybees), hornets, wasps, and other venomous insects
- Gophers, woodchucks, beavers, hedgehogs, porcupines, and other large rodents
- Deer, antelopes, llamas, and camels
- Sheep, goats, pigs, including potbellied pigs, and most farm animals
- Kangaroos, opossums, koalas, and other marsupials
- Dolphins, whales, seals, sea lions, walruses, and other sea mammals
- Sharks and piranhas
Learn more about which animals you can and cannot keep as pets in NYC.
DOHMH will only respond to a snake complaint if the pet is venomous or a constrictor. It is illegal to keep as a pet a snapping turtle or any turtle whose shell is less than 4 inches in length.
Turning in an Illegal Animal
If you have an illegal pet, you may drop the animal off at any one of the Animal Care Centers of NYC shelters in each borough. You will not receive a violation for dropping off an illegal animal.
There are Animal Care Center offices and drop-off locations across New York City.
Most require an appointment and are closed on the following holidays:
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
- New Year's Day
