Richland County, SC Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Curbside sales
- Banned on roadsides, lots, flea markets, fairs
- Minimum age
- No sale or giveaway under 8 weeks old
- Exempt businesses
- Licensed pet shops, kennels, rescue organizations
- No adoption-only mandate
- Licensed pet shops may sell dogs and cats
- Underage exception
- Surrender to shelter or licensed rescue only
Summary
Richland County doesn't require pet stores to be adoption-only. Section 5-9 bans curbside and public-space animal sales and sales of pets under eight weeks old, but it expressly exempts licensed pet shops, commercial kennels, and licensed rescue organizations from those restrictions.
No person shall sell, trade, barter, auction, lease, rent, give away, or display for commercial purpose, an animal, on any roadside, public right-of-way, public property, commercial parking lot, or sidewalk adjacent thereto, or at any flea market, fair, or carnival. ... No person shall sell, offer for sale, or give away a pet under eight (8) weeks of age, except to surrender to a municipal and/or county animal care facility or to a licensed pet rescue organization. This section does not apply to licensed pet shops, commercial kennels, municipal and/or county animal care facilities, and licensed pet rescue organizations.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-24: This supplement is current through Ordinance No. 033-25HR).
Full Breakdown
" That targets curbside box-of-puppies sales and flea-market animal vendors, not brick-and-mortar retail. Subsection (b) separately bars using an animal "as an inducement to purchase a product, commodity, or service," closing off free-pet-with-purchase promotions. Age is the other lever: subsection (c) makes it unlawful to "sell, offer for sale, or give away a pet under eight (8) weeks of age," with the only lawful outlets being surrender to a municipal or county animal care facility or transfer to a licensed pet rescue organization. " Read together, a licensed Richland County pet shop can sell dogs and cats obtained lawfully and old enough to sell; the county has not enacted a puppy-mill retail ban or an adoption-only mandate that would force stores to source animals only from shelters or rescues.
Violations & Fines
Selling or giving away an animal in a prohibited public location, using a pet as a sales inducement, or selling a pet under eight weeks old outside the surrender/rescue exception is a Chapter 5 violation investigated by Animal Services. A commercial pet breeder cited for selling underage animals also faces separate exposure under the county's commercial pet breeder permit requirements in Section 5-3, including permit revocation for repeated violations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can pet stores in Richland County sell dogs and cats?
Can I sell puppies from my driveway or a parking lot?
How young can a puppy or kitten be sold?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Richland County
Compare Richland County to another location·View the South Carolina animal ordinances overview
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