Where is the rabbit legal?

Oryctolagus cuniculus. Restricted in 2 of the 52 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Interactive map

Alabama: no restriction found for rabbitAlaska: no restriction found for rabbitArizona: no restriction found for rabbitArkansas: no restriction found for rabbitCalifornia: no restriction found for rabbitColorado: no restriction found for rabbitConnecticut: no restriction found for rabbitDelaware: no restriction found for rabbitFlorida: no restriction found for rabbitGeorgia: no restriction found for rabbitHawaii: no restriction found for rabbitIdaho: no restriction found for rabbitIllinois: no restriction found for rabbitIndiana: no restriction found for rabbitIowa: no restriction found for rabbitKansas: no restriction found for rabbitKentucky: no restriction found for rabbitLouisiana: no restriction found for rabbitMaine: no restriction found for rabbitMaryland: no restriction found for rabbitMassachusetts: no restriction found for rabbitMichigan: no restriction found for rabbitMinnesota: unclear for rabbitMississippi: no restriction found for rabbitMissouri: no restriction found for rabbitMontana: no restriction found for rabbitNebraska: no restriction found for rabbitNevada: unclear for rabbitNew Hampshire: no restriction found for rabbitNew Jersey: no restriction found for rabbitNew Mexico: no restriction found for rabbitNew York: no restriction found for rabbitNorth Carolina: no restriction found for rabbitNorth Dakota: no restriction found for rabbitOhio: no restriction found for rabbitOklahoma: no restriction found for rabbitOregon: no restriction found for rabbitPennsylvania: no restriction found for rabbitRhode Island: no restriction found for rabbitSouth Carolina: no restriction found for rabbitSouth Dakota: no restriction found for rabbitTennessee: no restriction found for rabbitTexas: no restriction found for rabbitUtah: no restriction found for rabbitVermont: no restriction found for rabbitVirginia: no restriction found for rabbitWashington: no restriction found for rabbitWest Virginia: no restriction found for rabbitWisconsin: no restriction found for rabbitWyoming: no restriction found for rabbitDistrict of Columbia: no restriction found for rabbit

Select a state for the rule behind its colour. Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia are drawn out of position so they can be clicked.

What the colours mean

  • BannedNo legal way to keep one, and no permit to apply for.
  • Permit requiredLegal, but you need a permit or license before the animal arrives.
  • Conditions applyLegal without a permit only if a stated condition is met, such as a generation, a size or an indoor-only rule.
  • Unclear (2)The rule genuinely does not resolve for this animal. Ask the agency before relying on it.
  • No restriction found (50)This jurisdiction was read for this animal and nothing in it restricts one.
  • Not checked yetWe have not read this jurisdiction for this animal. It is not a clean bill of health, it is a gap.

Choose an animal (A to Z, 52 of them)

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Every restriction on the rabbit

2 of the 52 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find. Open a row for the wording of the rule and the citation behind it.

Minnesota

UnclearMinn. R. 6216.0250, subp. 5(C); Minn. Stat. § 84D.05, subd. 1
A person may not possess, import, purchase, sell, propagate, transport, or introduce a prohibited invasive species, except: (1) under a permit issued by the commissioner under section 84D.11

Minnesota designates the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, a prohibited invasive species by rule, with no strain or domestication qualifier, and § 84D.05 then bars possessing one outright. The DNR restates that on its own invasive species page, listing the European rabbit among the prohibited mammals and saying it is a misdemeanour to possess, import, purchase, transport or introduce them except under a permit for disposal, control, research or education. None of those permit categories is pet-keeping, no carve-out for domesticated stock appears in the rule, the statute or the agency page, and the DNR has published no species profile or guidance for it at all. Against that sits the obvious: Minnesota licenses pet shops and runs county-fair rabbit shows, and the listing descends from the federal injurious wildlife entry aimed at wild-type animals. Recorded unclear because the text says one thing plainly and practice says another, and nothing published resolves it. Illinois names the same animal and lands differently, because there the possession bar is written for the San Juan strain and the injurious list is headed "Wild Mammals".

How this rule works: Section 84D.05 bars possessing, importing, purchasing, selling, propagating or transporting a prohibited invasive species except under a permit, and Minn. R. 6216.0250 subp. 5 is the mammal list: Asian raccoon dog, Eurasian swine, European rabbit and nutria. No reptile or amphibian is on the prohibited list, and no bird at all.

Minn. Stat. § 84D.05 and Minn. R. 6216.0250, prohibited invasive species →

Nevada

UnclearNAC 503.110(1)(d)(5)
(5) Wild European Rabbit....................... Oryctolagus cuniculus

The two columns of this row disagree with each other. The scientific classification names Oryctolagus cuniculus, which is the species every domestic rabbit belongs to, while the common name column says Wild European Rabbit. Nothing in the section says whether domesticated races are carved out, and unlike the chinchilla, mink, rat, mouse, turkey and duck entries elsewhere in these rules, no domesticated races wording appears here. Pet rabbits are plainly sold in Nevada and the definition of wildlife at NRS 501.097 reaches animals found naturally in a wild state, which a domesticated breed arguably is not. Rendered grey rather than guessed, because the text arguably reaches the animal and clearly was aimed at the wild form. Nevada leaves county and city ordinances untouched, and Clark County, Las Vegas and Henderson are all stricter than the state, so check the municipality before the state.

How this rule works: Two lists: 503.110 prohibits, 503.140 names species that may be possessed, transported, imported and exported without a permit. Nevada counties and cities are frequently stricter than the state, notably Clark County, Henderson and Las Vegas.

Nev. Admin. Code § 503.110 (prohibited species) and § 503.140 (species needing no permit) →

For the full write-up, including the states that get reported wrongly, read the rabbit legal guide.

Past the legal question? See the rabbit profile.

Cite this page

Every entry here is quoted from the statute or regulation it comes from, with the date it was last read against the published text.

How to read this

Two of the shades mean very different things and are worth telling apart. A flat grey state was read for this animal and nothing in it restricts one. A dotted state has not been read for this animal at all. Coverage runs from two jurisdictions to fifty-one depending on the species, so on a less-researched animal most of the map is a gap in our work rather than a finding, and it should not be taken as permission.

Even a flat grey is not a guarantee. It means no restriction was found in the specific body of law checked for that state, which is recorded alongside each jurisdiction. Cities and counties regularly ban animals their state allows, and several states say so in their own rules.

Hatched grey means the rule genuinely does not resolve. Usually a definition arguably reaches the animal without naming it, and the honest answer is to ask the agency rather than to guess. Those entries are marked unclear on purpose rather than being rounded to a yes or a no.

Every entry links to the regulation it came from. None of this is legal advice, laws change without much notice, and the agency that issues the permit is always the last word. For the federal layer and how state schemes are structured, see the exotic pet legal hub.