Bulloch County, GA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Section 8-158, titled 'Care of animals and birds,' places birds under the same minimum-care duty as any other animal in the county's Animal Control article. It states that no owner or custodian of any animal or bird shall fail to provide the animal or bird with humane care, adequate food and water, adequate sanitary shelter with adequate ventilation, and adequate shelter from inclement weather, including extreme heat. This sits alongside the article's broader humane treatment rule in Section 8-157, which bars killing an animal inhumanely, maiming it without justification, abandoning it, or knowingly allowing it to endure unnecessary pain or suffering, and Section 8-156's nuisance provisions covering any domesticated or caged wild animal, which by the article's terms includes birds kept as pets or in aviaries.

Certain birds are carved out of the article's coverage: Section 8-161 exempts the eradication or control of birds that appropriate governmental officials determine to constitute nuisances, along with activities under a valid hunting license consistent with federal and state game laws. The article's general jurisdiction and enforcement rules in Section 8-151 apply here too, giving the county authority to seize an animal or bird that is abandoned or cannot be secured, and routing violations to the county's magistrate court.