South Padre Island Says No to Wild Pets but Yes to Backyard Hens

South Padre Island has updated its animal rules, and the new ordinance draws a pretty clear line: no venomous snakes, no wild animals, no backyard tigers — but a few hens are allowed.

It sounds like the setup to a strange Texas joke, but it is a real city ordinance.

According to MySA, South Padre Island officials approved an updated animal ordinance in May that bans residents from keeping wild animals, venomous or poisonous animals, and most livestock inside city limits. The ordinance also allows residents to keep a small number of backyard chickens, with limits.

That means someone on the island can keep hens for personal use, but they cannot keep roosters, sell eggs as a business, or turn a beach-town backyard into a barnyard.

The new rule allows up to seven chickens per household. They must be kept in a hen house, coop, or pen, and the chickens need to be inside an enclosure where they can roam. Commercial activity tied to the chickens or their eggs is prohibited.

So yes, South Padre Island residents can have backyard hens.

But no, they cannot start a neighborhood egg business or wake everyone up with roosters.

The wilder part of the ordinance is the long list of animals that are not allowed. MySA reported that the city’s ban includes venomous and poisonous animals such as venomous snakes, scorpions, and poison dart frogs. It also prohibits wild animals that are not normally considered domesticated, including big cats, wild canines, primates, bears, ostriches, emus, skunks, foxes, opossums, iguanas, and other exotic animals.

That may sound extreme until you remember that Texas has a long history of unusual animal stories. Escaped livestock, exotic pets, snakes, alligators, monkeys, and big cats have all made headlines in different parts of the state over the years.

South Padre Island Mayor Patrick McNulty referenced one older local issue during a May 12 city council meeting, according to MySA. He said the city’s old snake ordinance dated back roughly 20 years to a time when someone had venomous snakes on the island and a couple of them got loose.

That kind of memory tends to stick with a place.

A venomous snake getting loose in a beach community is not just a pet-owner problem. It becomes a neighbor problem, a public safety problem, and possibly an emergency-response problem. The same is true for larger wild animals that may be legal or loosely regulated in one place but completely inappropriate in a dense residential or tourist area.

South Padre Island is not a remote ranch. It is a busy coastal city with neighborhoods, vacation rentals, hotels, beachgoers, families, tourists, and workers packed into a narrow island community. What someone keeps behind a fence or inside a house can quickly become everyone else’s concern if it escapes.

The city’s rules also ban other livestock, including horses, donkeys, cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, turkeys, geese, ducks, and peacocks. That part may disappoint anyone dreaming of a miniature farm near the beach, but it makes sense for a city where space is limited and tourism is central to daily life.

Violating the ordinance can reportedly bring a fine of up to $500 per offense. Animal welfare and rescue organizations are exempt from the rule.

The timing is also interesting because Texas has had ongoing conversations about backyard food production, local animal rules, and property rights. In 2023, Texas lawmakers passed changes tied to the state’s Right to Farm protections, which expanded some rights for people keeping livestock and poultry in urban and suburban areas. South Padre Island’s new rule appears to be the city’s way of updating its own local code while still placing firm limits on animals that create safety, noise, sanitation, or neighborhood concerns.

For most residents, the practical takeaway is simple: a few hens may be fine, but exotic pet ownership is not.

And honestly, that is probably a relief to many people who live nearby.

Backyard chickens are one thing. A rooster at sunrise is another. A venomous snake, skunk, monkey, or big cat loose on a tourist island is something else entirely.

South Padre Island may be known for spring break, beach vacations, fishing, sea turtles, and Gulf Coast sunsets. But with this ordinance, city leaders are making it clear they do not want the island known as the place where someone’s exotic pet got loose in the neighborhood.