Charleston, SC Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Sec. 5-101 flatly bars any person from having, keeping, or maintaining a wild, exotic, or non-domestic animal in the city without first applying to and receiving a permit from the animal control division, and even a permitted animal must still conform to applicable zoning regulations and state law. Chapter 5's definitions section lists examples of animals treated as wild or exotic for this purpose, including anteaters, apes, baboons, bears, bison, cheetahs, coyotes, crocodilians, elephants, kangaroos, kinkajous, monkeys, and owls, while carving out exotic birds or animals ordinarily sold at pet stores.

Sec. 5-102(a) gives the division discretion to grant a permit only when it decides the animal can be kept without menacing the safety of any person or property, and lets the division impose extra caging, securing, or other regulatory conditions, or revoke the permit outright for any violation of the animal chapter or the division's own rules, or whenever it later decides the animal is a safety menace. Sec. 5-102(b) separately lets the division issue temporary permits for wild animals brought in for a circus, amusement enterprise, or exhibition, but only in a zone where such uses are permitted. The permitting authority is cross-referenced to Chapter 17's general business licensing and permit provisions.