Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

(a) (1) Any person who houses, possesses, manages, or is in direct contact with an elephant shall not do either of the following: (A) Use a bullhook, ankus, baseball bat, axe handle, pitchfork, or other device designed to inflict pain for the purpose of training or controlling th…

(a) (1) The department, in cooperation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, may, upon application, issue a written permit to import into, possess, or transport within this state any wild animal enumerated in, or designated pursuant to, Section 671 of Title 14 of the Calif…

Fees collected pursuant to this chapter for permits, permit applications, and facility inspections shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. The department shall annually identify the amount collected for each type of permit, permit application, or inspection for…

The department shall establish fees for permits, permit applications, and facility inspections in amounts sufficient to cover the costs of administering, implementing, and enforcing this chapter.

(a) The director shall appoint a committee to advise the director on the humane care and treatment of wild animals. (b) The committee shall make recommendations to the director for the establishment of standards of performance for administration and enforcement, which shall inclu…

(a) The department or an eligible local entity shall inspect the wild animal facilities, as determined by the director’s advisory committee, of each person holding a permit issued pursuant to Section 2150 authorizing the possession of a wild animal. (b) In addition to the inspect…

Classes, orders, families, genera, and species which may not be imported, transported, possessed, or released alive in this state solely because of concern for the welfare of the animal may be possessed under permit when the owner can demonstrate that such animal was legally acqu…

A permit shall be issued only upon written application from the person desiring to import or transport the species, enumerating all of the following: (a) The approximate number and true scientific name of each species of wild animal for which a permit is requested. (b) The carrie…

Each permit issued shall set forth all of the following: (a) The number and true scientific name of the species of wild animal for which the permit is granted. (b) A statement of the manner and conditions under which the entry of such species is permitted. (c) A statement of the …

Whenever any permit is issued under the provisions of this article, one copy shall be sent by the department to the State Department of Food and Agriculture, one copy to the county agricultural commissioner or to the state plant quarantine officer having jurisdiction at the place…

The provisions of this chapter and regulations adopted pursuant thereto shall apply to the progeny of any wild animal imported or possessed under such laws and regulations, except that no permit shall be required for the possession of progeny if a permit has already been obtained…

Neither the provisions of this chapter nor the regulations of the commission shall prevent any city or county from enacting ordinances relating to the possession or care of wild animals provided such ordinances are more restrictive.

(a) Every person holding a permit issued pursuant to Section 2150 shall uniquely identify each wild mammal that poses a risk to the health and safety of the public and report this identification to the department to maintain in a registry. (b) The commission shall adopt regulatio…

(a) Any person who transports, receives, or imports into the state, or transports within the state, any live wild animal enumerated in or designated pursuant to Section 2118, shall hold that animal in confinement for inspection and immediately notify the nearest enforcing officer…

(a) If during inspection upon arrival any wild animal is found to be diseased, or there is reason to suspect the presence of disease, or there is reason to suspect the presence of disease that is or may be detrimental to agriculture, to native wildlife, or to the public health or…

(a) Whenever any wild animal is brought into this state under permit, as provided in this chapter, the enforcing officers may, from time to time, examine the conditions under which that species is kept, and report to the department any suspicion or knowledge of any disease or vio…

(a) As used in this section “nonnative wild animal” means any nonnative animal species, or hybrid thereof, that is not normally domesticated pursuant to this code or regulations adopted pursuant thereto and that is not designated as a furbearing, game, nongame, threatened, or end…

Any regulation adopted pursuant to this article may supersede any section of this code designated by number in the regulation, but shall do so only to the extent specifically provided in the regulation. A regulation which is adopted pursuant to this section shall be valid only to…

It is unlawful for any person who keeps in confinement, with or without a permit, any wild animal of a species enumerated in or designated pursuant to Section 2118, to liberate, ship, or transport the animal except in accordance with the conditions of a permit first obtained from…

Notwithstanding Part 2.5 (commencing with Section 18900) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code, Section 11356 of the Government Code, or any other provision of law, regulations of the commission relating to the construction, fixtures, and other minimum caging standards ado…

(a) Every person who holds a permit issued pursuant to Section 2150 shall immediately report by telephone the intentional or unintentional escape or release of the wild animal, to the department and the nearest enforcing officer of the city or county in which the wild animal was …

When a wild animal enumerated in, or designated pursuant to, Section 671 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations is properly confiscated by the department, the new custodian with whom the animal is placed by the department may bring a civil action to recover the reasona…

For purposes of this article, “mammal” means any wild animal of the class Mammalia as specified in Article 1 (commencing with Section 2116) or regulations adopted pursuant thereto which affects commerce.

The Animal Trust Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the money in the fund is available to the department for the administration of this article and to make grants pursuant to Section 2203. The department may use not more than …

The department may seek grants and accept donations from private and public organizations and agencies for the purposes of this article for deposit in the Animal Trust Fund.

(a) The director, with the advice of the committee established pursuant to Section 2150.3, shall adopt regulations to establish and administer a grant program, including eligibility criteria, by which persons or governmental agencies who operate facilities to care and shelter mam…

This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Circus Cruelty Prevention Act.

(a) For purposes of this article, except as provided in subdivision (b), the term “circus” means a performance before a live audience in which entertainment consisting of a variety of acts, such as acrobats, aerialists, clowns, jugglers, or stunts, is the primary attraction or pr…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a person shall not sponsor, conduct, or operate a circus in this state that uses any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse. (b) Notwithstanding any other law, a person shall not exhibit or use any animal other tha…

(a) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, a person who violates this article, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this article, shall be liable for a civil penalty of no more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each day the person is in violation…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), this article applies to a commission regulation that governs the take or possession of any bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, or reptile. (b) This article does not apply to a regulation governed by subdivision (b) of Section 200 or Section 2…

(a) When adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation governed by this article, the commission shall conduct the following steps at separate public meetings: (1) Approve the submission of a notice of proposed action to the Office of Administrative Law. (2) Consider public commen…

(a) The commission and the department may do anything that is deemed necessary and proper to publicize and distribute a regulation governed by this article so that persons likely to be affected will be informed of them. The failure of the commission to provide any notice of a reg…

A regulation governed by this article is not subject to the time periods for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation prescribed in Sections 11343.4, 11346.4, 11346.8, and 11347.1 of the Government Code.

The adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation governed by this article shall become effective at the time specified in the regulation, but not sooner than the date of the filing.

A regulation governed by this article shall remain in effect for the period specified in the regulation or until superseded by subsequent regulation of the commission or by statute.

Any person engaged in raising or importing, or who keeps in captivity, in this state domesticated game birds or domesticated game mammals which normally exist in the wild in this state shall procure a domesticated game breeder’s license if the birds or mammals are kept more than …

No person shall sell the carcass of any domesticated game bird or mammal without first obtaining a domesticated game breeder’s license from the department. The department may issue such a license upon terms and conditions as the commission may prescribe, and the commission may at…

There are classes of domesticated game breeder’s licenses, designated “class 1” and “class 2.” (a) A class 1 domesticated game breeder’s license authorizes the licensee to engage in all domesticated game breeding activities except that not more than 175 Chinese ringneck or Mongol…

The department shall issue a class 1 domesticated game breeder’s license upon the payment of a base fee of eight dollars ($8), as adjusted under Section 713, and a class 2 domesticated game breeder’s license upon the payment of a base fee of forty dollars ($40), as adjusted under…

Licenses issued under the provisions of this article are valid for a term of one year from January 1st, or, if issued after the beginning of such term, for the remainder thereof. A domesticated game breeder’s license shall be conspicuously displayed on the property where the bird…

Carriers for hire may carry within the State live domesticated game birds and mammals upon such terms and conditions as the commission may prescribe. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

No domesticated game bird or mammal shall be transported or sold dead unless each quarter and each loin of the carcass of each large mammal, the carcass of each bird, except as provided in Section 2401 for a domesticated game bird raised outside this State, and the carcass of eac…

The department shall collect three cents ($0.03) for each tag or seal. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

On or before January 31st of each year, every person to whom a domesticated game breeder’s license has been issued shall report the following to the department on a form provided by the department: (a) The total number of each species of game birds and mammals killed, sold, or sh…

(a) In lieu of the tag required by Section 3206, poultry processing plants licensed pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18650) or Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 18940) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Food and Agricultural Code, which process domesticated game bird…

The keeper of a hotel, restaurant, boardinghouse, or club may sell portions of a quarter or loin of a large mammal, or the carcass of a game bird or mammal raised or imported under a domesticated game breeder’s license, to a patron for actual consumption on the premises only, and…

A retail meat dealer may, without a license, sell portions of a quarter or loin of a large mammal or the carcass of a game bird or mammal raised or imported under a domesticated game breeder’s license to a customer for actual consumption. Retail dealers shall submit their premise…

Domesticated game breeders or other persons holding domesticated game mammals in captivity shall confine the mammals in escape-proof cages or enclosures. In the event any of the mammals escape from the cages or enclosures, the owner shall immediately make every reasonable effort …

All domesticated game birds and mammals, excepting deer, sold under the provisions of this article, shall be killed otherwise than by shooting. This section does not apply to licensed pheasant clubs, licensed domesticated migratory game bird shooting areas, or to the training or …