Aiken County, SC Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

" There is no pit bull, Rottweiler, or other breed-named ban or restriction anywhere in Chapter 4. Instead, the ordinance defines "dangerous animal" by conduct in Sec. 4-32(a): an animal the owner knows or should know has a propensity to attack unprovoked, one that has actually made an unprovoked attack causing bodily injury away from its place of confinement, one trained or kept for fighting, or one used as a weapon in a crime. A court may also, under subsection (d), declare an animal dangerous after a serious-injury attack regardless of provocation or location.

Once an animal is judicially declared dangerous, the owner faces real, itemized obligations: Sec. 4-22(d) requires registration with the director within seven days of conviction, renewed annually; a registration fee on top of the ordinary fee, set by county council; a metal "dangerous" tag and special collar and leash that must be worn at all times; and proof of liability insurance of at least $50,000 covering injuries the animal might inflict, provided at initial and every annual renewal. Sec. 4-32(e)-(g) additionally require the owner to confine the dangerous animal on the owner's premises indoors or in a securely enclosed and locked fence or pen designed to keep the public out and the animal in, to keep it off the property only under safe restraint, and caps the number of dangerous animals a single property may keep at two. Sec. 4-32(b) exempts animals used exclusively for agriculture and animals that attack a trespasser.