Aiken County, SC Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Section 4-26, Wild animals, of the Aiken County Code of Ordinances imposes two separate bans. First, subsection (a) prohibits keeping or permitting to be kept on any premises a wild or vicious animal for display or exhibition purposes, whether for a fee or free of charge, though this does not reach zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions, or circuses that separately register under Sec. 4-27. Second, and more directly relevant to private ownership, subsection (b) states flatly that no person shall keep a wild animal as a pet except as allowed under federal and state law, meaning the county itself grants no local exemption or permit path for exotic pet ownership; any legality has to come from state or federal wildlife statutes, not from the county.

The definitions section, Sec. 4-11, gives the ordinance real teeth by defining "wild animal" expansively: any animal sharing the genetic makeup or physical appearance of ancestors not historically bred for human companionship or service, expressly naming nonhuman primates, raccoons, skunks, foxes, ferrets, poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes, leopards, tigers, lynx, and wolves, and further sweeping in any wild/domestic hybrid animal. That hybrid language means a wolf-dog cross or similar hybrid falls under the same prohibition as a purebred wild species. Circus and traveling animal acts are handled separately under Sec.

4-27, which requires registration with county animal control at least one week before entering the county, presentation of health records and an animal inventory, and payment of a $100 registration fee, waived only for acts sponsored by a registered local nonprofit.