(a) No person shall possess a potentially dangerous animal. For the purposes of this section, the following wildlife, or any hybrid thereof, shall be considered potentially dangerous animals:

(1) The felidae, including, but not limited to, the lion, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, ocelot, jaguarundi cat, puma, lynx and bobcat;

(2) The canidae, including, but not limited to, the wolf, and coyote;

(3) The ursidae, including, but not limited to, the black bear, grizzly bear and brown bear; and

(4) The hominidae, including, but not limited to, the gorilla, chimpanzee and orangutan.

(b) A primate that weighs less than thirty-five pounds at maturity and that was imported or possessed by a person in this state prior to October 1, 2010, shall not be considered a potentially dangerous animal pursuant to this section.

(c) Any such animal illegally possessed may be ordered seized and may be relocated or disposed of as determined by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall issue a bill to the owner or person in illegal possession of such potentially dangerous animal for all costs of seizure, care, maintenance, relocation or disposal of such animal. Additionally, any person who violates any provision of this section shall be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars, to be fixed by the court, for each offense. Each violation shall be a separate and distinct offense and in the case of a continuing violation, each day's continuance thereof shall be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense. The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may request the Attorney General to institute an action in Superior Court to recover such penalty and any amounts owed pursuant to a bill issued in accordance with this section and for an order providing such equitable and injunctive relief as the court deems appropriate.

(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to municipal parks, public nonprofit aquaria or zoos, accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums or the Zoological Association of America, nature centers, museums, or exhibitors licensed or registered with the United States Department of Agriculture or laboratories and research facilities maintained by scientific or educational institutions licensed or registered with the United States Department of Agriculture, any licensed veterinarian for the purpose of treatment and care of such animal, or to any person who possesses a breed of felidae certified by The International Cat Association, the Cat Fanciers Association or the American Cat Fanciers Association.

(e) Any person who wilfully violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

(1967, P.A. 344; P.A. 83-191, S. 2, 9; P.A. 96-243, S. 5, 16; P.A. 03-192, S. 2; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(e); P.A. 04-189, S. 1; 04-257, S. 95; P.A. 09-198, S. 1; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 12-105, S. 3; P.A. 13-83, S. 10.)

History: P.A. 83-191 applied provisions to “potentially dangerous” animals rather than to “potentially dangerous wild animals”, eliminated municipal authority to issue permits for possession of such animals, transferring authority to seize and dispose of them to environmental protection commissioner, and exempted persons legally in possession of such animals on or before May 23, 1983; P.A. 96-243 added provisions allowing certain Bengal cats to be kept provided they are to be considered not vaccinated, effective June 6, 1996; P.A. 03-192 made technical changes, added provision re hybrid wildlife, authorized Department of Environmental Protection to issue a bill for the cost of confiscation, care maintenance and disposal of potentially dangerous animal to the owner of such animal, established civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 and authorized the Attorney General to bring suit for recovery of any such civil penalty or bill; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 replaced Commissioner of Agriculture with Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 04-257 made technical changes, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 09-198 designated existing provisions as Subsecs. (a), (c) and (d), amended Subsec. (a) by adding Subdiv. designators (1) to (3), making technical changes and adding Subdiv. (4) re “hominidae”, added Subsec. (b) re exemption for certain primates that weigh less than 35 pounds at maturity, amended Subsec. (c) by adding “relocated” and “relocation”, increasing civil penalty to $2,000 and adding provision re order for equitable and injunctive relief, amended Subsec. (d) by adding exemptions re certain accredited, licensed or registered municipal parks, zoos, public nonprofit aquaria, nature centers, museums, laboratories and research facilities and making technical changes, and added Subsec. (e) re criminal penalty; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” and “Department of Environmental Protection” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection” and “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection”, respectively, in Subsec. (c), effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 12-105 amended Subsec. (b) to change “October 1, 2003,” to “October 1, 2010”; P.A. 13-83 amended Subsec. (d) by deleting provisions re exemption for possession of certain Bengal cats, adding provision re exemptions for licensed veterinarian and for person who possesses breed of felidae certified by specified association, and making a technical change, effective June 5, 2013.

Cited. 230 C. 916; 231 C. 939. Statute not unconstitutionally vague and list of felidae prohibited by statute not exclusive; judgment of Appellate Court in 34 CA 741 reversed in part. 235 C. 426.

Statute not unconstitutionally vague as applied to hybrid bobcat; statute is unconstitutionally vague as applied to jungle cat and bengal cat. 34 CA 741; judgment reversed in part, see 235 C. 426.