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

Section 4-5 of the county code requires anyone owning, keeping, harboring or having custody of a cat (or dog) over four months of age in the unincorporated areas to ensure the animal wears a collar bearing an identification plate stating the owner's name, address and telephone number. Section 4-1 defines 'pet' to include a domestic cat (Felis catus domesticus) alongside dogs, so the collar-and-ID duty applies equally to cat owners. Kershaw County Animal Control enforces this and the rest of Chapter 4. Cats are also covered by the general excrement-removal duty in Sec.

4-6, the animal-care standards in Sec. 4-9 (adequate food, water, shelter, veterinary care, and a ban on cruelty or abandonment), and the nuisance-animal provisions in Sec. 4-8, which reach any animal, including a cat, that damages property, creates unsanitary conditions, or otherwise disturbs neighbors. The code does not contain a separate cat licensing requirement, an at-large restraint duty specific to cats, or any feral-colony or trap-neuter-return provision; the at-large and restraint rules in Sec. 4-3 are written for dogs only. A cat impounded by animal control is handled under the same impoundment and redemption rules as dogs, Sec. 4-14 and 4-15, including the five-day redemption window and pre-redemption spay/neuter requirement unless an exception in Sec. 4-15(c) applies.