Effingham County, GA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Effingham County's animal control ordinance, rewritten in full by Ord. No. 2025-511 (adopted Nov. 18, 2025), defines "running at large" in Sec. 10-1 as any animal not confined by its owner within walls or a fence of proper design, not controlled by a leash, and not otherwise kept from contact with the public. Sec. 10-71(a) makes it unlawful for an owner or keeper of any cat or dog, other than a hunting dog during hunting season, to let the animal run at large, stray from the owner's premises, or go onto another person's property.

Hunting dogs get a conditional exception: they may run wooded areas during deer season if the property owner permits it, they wear tags with the owner's name, address, and phone number, they carry current rabies vaccination, and they are properly supervised. If animal control picks up a tagged hunting dog, the county boards it for a minimum of five days at no penalty; after five days unclaimed, the dog is treated as abandoned. Sec. 10-71(b) bars horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs from feeding or roaming loose on any county road right-of-way.

Loose pets found elsewhere are picked up by humane enforcement officers and impounded under Sec. 10-73, where they are held at least three working days. An owner reclaiming an impounded dog or cat pays the fee set in the county's schedule of fees and charges on file with the county clerk; adoption fees are waived only for P.A.W.S. of Effingham County, Inc. and the county humane society. Leashed dogs are also barred from county recreational areas under Sec. 10-72 except at boat ramps, on marked trails, or inside a fenced dog park open 8:00 a.m. until dusk.