Richland County's animal ordinance does not set a strict household cap for the unincorporated county, but every dog and cat over four months old must be licensed and rabies-vaccinated. Keeping enough animals to become a commercial operation triggers a Commercial Pet Breeder Permit. Columbia limits residents to three dogs.
In unincorporated Richland County, the animal code (Chapter 5, rewritten by Ordinance 025-24HR in 2024) focuses on licensing and welfare rather than a fixed numeric pet cap: under Sec. 5-2 every pet (dog or cat) over four months old must have a current county pet license and rabies vaccination. Once ownership crosses into breeding or commercial-scale keeping, the county requires a Commercial Pet Breeder Permit. Zoning under the Land Development Code can also limit animal-keeping in some residential districts. By contrast, the City of Columbia caps residents at three dogs, requiring a kennel license above that. If you keep many animals, confirm both licensing and any zoning limit for your parcel.
Failing to license each pet over four months is unlawful under Sec. 5-2; commercial-scale keeping without a Commercial Pet Breeder Permit, or excessive animals creating a nuisance, draws animal-control enforcement and fines.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
richland-county-sc
Richland County has no ordinance banning residential backyard composting. Reasonable home compost piles are allowed, but a pile that becomes a nuisance, harb...
richland-county-sc
Richland County has no ordinance specifically permitting or prohibiting artificial turf on residential lots. Single-family yards are exempt from the county's...
richland-county-sc
Richland County does not require homeowners to plant native species, but its Land Development Code favors them: on development sites, trees and plants in par...
richland-county-sc
Rainwater harvesting is legal in South Carolina and Richland County has no ordinance banning or permitting residential rain barrels or cisterns. The county a...
richland-county-sc
Richland County itself imposes no permanent lawn-watering ordinance. Outdoor water use is governed by your water utility and by South Carolina's Drought Resp...
richland-county-sc
Richland County Code Sec. 18-4 treats overgrown grass, weeds, dead brush and noxious plants in developed areas as "unsafe and noxious vegetation." The sherif...
See how Richland County's pet limits rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.