Keeping horses, cattle, goats, sheep, swine, and fowl on qualifying property in the unincorporated county is protected as a bona fide farm use under NCGS 160D-903, so county zoning cannot bar it. The animal code still bars public-nuisance conditions and regulates dead-animal disposal.
Sec. 6-28 defines livestock as animals commonly associated with farming, including horses, mules, ponies, llamas, swine, sheep, cattle, goats, chickens, and other fowl. Under NCGS 160D-903 and the right-to-farm law (NCGS 106-701), county zoning may not affect land in bona fide farm use. Livestock is exempt from summary seizure when on the owner's own property (Sec. 6-79(a)). The animal code does regulate related conditions: waste that runs off onto a neighbor's property or stream is a nuisance (Sec. 6-57(a)(7)); large dead animals must be buried at least four feet deep and 300 feet from water within 24 hours (Sec. 6-62). Municipal zoning may impose stricter livestock rules inside towns.
Public-nuisance conditions from livestock (odor, waste runoff, animals at large) are Level I to Level III civil penalties ($50-$500). Failure to dispose of a dead animal is a Level I violation. Right-to-farm protections limit nuisance suits against established bona fide
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See how Buncombe County's livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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