Rock Hill, SC Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Rock Hill's Chapter 6 pet ordinance defines 'cat' simply as a domestic feline of either sex in Section 6-31, then folds cats into the same rules that apply to dogs throughout the rest of the article. Section 6-35 requires every owner of a dog or cat to have the animal vaccinated against rabies and to keep a rabies vaccination tag attached to a collar or harness at all times; an animal without the tag attached can be impounded. A licensed veterinarian issues both a state board of health certificate and the numbered metal tag, and a certificate from another state is valid if it is less than a year old.

Section 6-36(a) requires the owner or keeper of every animal, which by definition includes cats, to keep the animal under restraint at all times, subject to a narrow exception when a responsible adult is physically outside with the animal on the owner's own property and the animal is obedient to voice commands. Section 6-36(i) adds a cat-specific breeding rule: a female dog or cat in heat must be confined in a building, secure enclosure or veterinary or boarding facility, and any female dog or cat over four months of age kept outside where stray dogs or cats have unrestricted breeding access must be spayed to prevent nuisance reproduction.

Rock Hill has no separate cat-licensing fee or feral-colony registration scheme in the code; the rabies-tag and restraint rules described above are the operative cat requirements.