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

Every dog and cat in unincorporated Greenville County must be vaccinated against rabies "at a frequency that provides continuous protection from the rabies virus," per County Code Sec. 4-14(a), and the owner receives a vaccination certificate plus a serially numbered rabies tag from the vet. Section 4-14(c) then carves out cats specifically: cats are not required to wear a rabies tag, but the owner must retain proof of a current rabies vaccination and provide it upon request. Dogs get no such break: Sec. 4-14(b) makes it unlawful to let a vaccinated dog outside without its tag attached to a collar or harness.

If County Animal Control impounds a cat running at large and it lacks current vaccination proof, Sec. 4-14(e)(1) requires the owner to produce that proof, or have the cat vaccinated at the owner's expense, before the shelter will release it. Release itself runs through Sec. 4-15(c) and (d): the owner has 5 business days to reclaim the cat, pays a boarding fee plus an escalating impoundment fee ($85 first offense, $90 second, $100 third, $150 fourth, $250 fifth or later), and must present a current rabies certificate.

A cat unclaimed after 5 business days becomes county property under Sec. 4-15(e) and may be offered for adoption, at which point that same section bars adoption unless the cat has first been spayed or neutered. Violations of the animal control article are misdemeanors tried in magistrate's court under Sec. 4-23, with each day of a continuing violation charged as a separate offense.