Oconee County, SC Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 4-4 of the Oconee County Code requires all owned animals to be kept 'under restraint,' which the code defines to include confinement to the owner's or custodian's premises, or being accompanied and physically controlled by the owner with a restraining device; the restraint requirement does not apply to dogs lawfully engaged in hunting. Owners must exercise proper care and control to prevent their animal from becoming a public nuisance, and a female dog or cat in heat must be confined in a building or secure enclosure so it cannot contact another animal except for planned breeding.

Every dog declared dangerous or potentially dangerous under Chapter 4 must be confined in a building or secure enclosure and securely muzzled or caged whenever off the owner's premises. If a fence or humane enclosure is not used and a dog is tethered instead, Section 4-4(f) sets specific minimum standards: the tether must be at least ten feet long, cannot be a logging chain, tow chain, or other tether heavy enough to injure the dog, should have swivels on both ends to allow the fullest practicable range of movement, must allow free access to food, potable water and adequate shelter, must attach to a properly fitting collar or harness, and multiple tethered dogs in the same area must be separated to prevent entanglement.

A trolley or wireless/underground fence system may substitute for a stake tether if properly maintained and capable of containing the dog. Violations fall under Section 4-11 and 4-12 enforcement, which the animal control officer or a deputy sheriff can pursue as a misdemeanor within the magistrate's court's jurisdictional limits, and a repeatedly at-large animal can be ordered forfeited under Section 4-12.