Jessamine County, KY Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 90.12 of the Jessamine County Code is the livestock rule in Chapter 90, the animal control chapter adopted by the Fiscal Court. Subsection (A) makes it unlawful for any person to permit livestock owned or harbored by him or her to run at large. When livestock are running at large, Animal Care and Control or a peace officer shall make reasonable efforts to notify the owner as soon as possible, and where reasonably possible and feasible the owner is notified before the animal is captured and impounded.

The definition in § 90.01 fixes what counts. LIVESTOCK means cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses or any other animals of the bovine, ovine, porcine, caprine, or equine species. Poultry and fowl are not named in that definition.

If the owner cannot be located, subsection (B) lets Animal Care and Control or a peace officer impound the livestock and hold it at a location designated by the Director of Animal Care and Control. The hold is a minimum of 15 days after the Director advertises in the legal section of the local newspaper where and when the animal was impounded. If no owner comes forward after the 15 day period, the livestock becomes the property of the Jessamine County Fiscal Court and can be offered for adoption, sold, or euthanized at the Director's discretion. An owner who does claim the animal pays a reasonable fee for transportation, board, administration and medical attention during the impoundment.

Care duties sit in § 90.08. Subsection (C) requires the owner of any livestock to provide adequate food, water, space and health care, and subsection (A) makes it unlawful to abandon any canine or livestock. Abandoned livestock can be seized by an Animal Control Officer or peace officer, notice must be posted on the premises with the agency name and telephone number of the animal shelter, and the owner is subject to criminal prosecution.