Beaufort County, SC Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Under Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-42, a "caregiver" is anyone who feeds, waters, shelters or otherwise cares for a feral cat colony and has applied to BCAS for permission to manage it. A "feral cat colony" is a group of congregating cats, and non-feral cats that routinely join the group count as part of the colony. The section adopts trap-neuter-release (TNR) terminology: TNR means trapping, spaying or neutering, vaccinating and releasing; ear tipping (a straight-line cut to the left ear tip while the cat is anesthetized) marks a cat as already sterilized.

Colony management itself is permitted by BCAS at no fee, but the caregiver must apply for a permit for each colony and may only maintain it under the terms of BCAS's written colony-management policy once that permit is approved. The section separately defines "nuisance" for feral colonies as disturbing the peace by habitually or continually howling, crying or screaming, or by habitual and significant destruction of property against the owner's wishes. Because cats are covered by the county's rabies statute (§ 14-45), colony caregivers and owners of owned cats must still have cats four months or older vaccinated against rabies, revaccinated on the schedule shown on the veterinarian's certificate, and must be able to produce proof of vaccination on demand. All violations of chapter 14, including feral-colony and rabies provisions, are heard in Beaufort County Magistrate Court under § 14-48.