City Ordinances on Feeding Wild Animals

Some nuisances are easy to spot – they are as large as the rusting car in the neighbor’s
front yard. Some nuisances are a little harder to define and their far-reaching effects
more difficult to explain. A nuisance of this type that cities often struggle with is the
feeding of wild animals or strays.

Problems Associated with Unattended Feeding:

Feeding of wild animals in rural areas is a common practice. However, in urban areas
with smaller lots, the activity can quickly become a nuisance that cities wish to regulate.
Feed left out for “desirable animals” such as stray (or feral) cats, dogs and deer also may
attract the following:

1) Rats;
2) Raccoons;
3) Skunks;
4) Coyotes (who do not attack humans, but may attack small cats and dogs);
5) Bears (on occasion depending on locale).

It is important to note that even “desirable animals” for whom the proffered food is
intended may become nuisances in large numbers. Deer can quickly ruin neighboring
lawns, trees and gardens. Stray cats who linger nearby for food left outside can quickly
multiply.

Attracting wild animals to a neighborhood can create some obvious problems, such as
property damage (for example, raccoons tearing apart garbage), increased risk of attack
(even wild turkeys may become aggressive during breeding season) and disease (for
example, rabies and the roundworm parasites carried by raccoons
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/livingwith_wildlife/raccoons/index.html).

However, some less obvious problems with feeding wild animals can be just as
problematic. Feeding can alter normal patterns of movement and congregation among
animals. The more food, the denser the congregation of animals looking to eat becomes.
This can spread disease among the animals and cause reproduction rates to skyrocket.
Becoming too used to humans may make animals more susceptible to harm.

City Authority to Regulate Feedings & Sample Language:

Cities are specifically authorized to regulate the keeping of animals at Minn. Stat. §
412.221 Subd 21. Cities can and have adopted ordinances limiting feeding of wild
animals. The City of Coon Rapids was recently in the news for its new ordinance (See
http://tinyurl.com/29s39b3)

Here are some sources for sample ordinances from Minnesota cities on feeding wild and
stray animals:
• City of Arden Hills, Chapter 4, Section 420.10: http://tinyurl.com/24gb4vt

• City of Madelia, Chapter 9, Section 92.110

http://www.madeliamn.com/Ordinance/26.php#JD_92.080

• Minnesota Basic Code Chapter 9, Section 91.19: http://tinyurl.com/2ew79fz

Some cities merely regulate the feeding of certain types of wild animals such as deer or
waterfowl. For example:

Hermantown City Code, Chapter 6, Section 640.06 Feeding Wild Bears Prohibited. No
person shall intentionally feed or attempt to feed a wild bear within the city. No person
shall place any feed for any wild animal out of doors if a bear has been attracted to the
feeding source.

Conclusion:

Often people leaving food out for animals do not understand the far-reaching effects of
their actions. Some cities supplement their ordinance provisions with educational
materials. For example, the City of Minnetonka posted this online information about
wild turkeys: http://www.eminnetonka.com/news.cfm?story_id=WildTurkeys201009.
Cities wishing to develop educational efforts about the problems with feeding wild
animals may also like to review the DNR’s extensive materials on this subject. The DNR
materials offer detailed information on numerous animal types and are available at this
link: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/livingwith_wildlife/index.html