Pageland, SC Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 4-15(a) bars any owner or custodian of an animal identified by complaint from allowing it to stray or run at large on any public street, sidewalk, or park, or onto another person's property, unless the animal is under sufficient strict voice control or physical restraint to keep it controlled. The section builds in a legal presumption against the owner: if the animal destroys or damages property, attacks or threatens to attack, interferes with a person, becomes a nuisance, or strays onto private property, the law presumes the animal was not under strict voice control, shifting the burden to the owner to show otherwise.

Section 4-1 defines strict voice control as demonstrable control over the animal's behavior as if it were on a leash, and defines restraint as being on the owner's premises or accompanied by a responsible person who keeps it under control; an animal confined within an unfenced yard on its own property, without roaming off that property, is not considered at large. Enforcement starts with a complaint, which under Section 4-15(b) can be made verbally or in writing to the town administrator's office, the police department, or the animal control officer; the town clerk keeps a central record of every complaint.

Once a complaint is filed, Section 4-15(c) requires the town to notify the known owner, and if the animal remains unrestrained the town may impound it under the chapter's impoundment article.