Dorchester County, SC Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Adopted by Ord. No. 20-10 in June 2020, § 4-22 flatly bars a 'pet store, the manager and/or employee of any pet store' from displaying, selling, delivering, offering for sale, bartering, giving away or otherwise disposing of a dog or cat within the unincorporated areas of Dorchester County. Section 4-21 defines a pet store as any retail business, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or other entity primarily selling dogs, cats, pet supplies or pet food to the public, but excludes animal rescue organizations, defined as 501(c)(3) nonprofits whose mission is rescuing and placing animals and which do not breed animals.

The ban carves out one exception: a store can still let a registered rescue organization use its space to showcase adoptable dogs or cats, provided the store has no ownership interest in those animals and does not receive a fee for hosting the space. This retail ban sits alongside the older § 4-13, which separately bars anyone from selling any domestic animal on a roadside, public right-of-way, parking lot, sidewalk, flea market, fair or carnival, again with an exception for registered rescue organizations, so the county reaches both storefront and outdoor commercial animal sales.

Section 4-23 backs § 4-22 with its own enforcement track, tying violations to the county's business licensing power rather than the standard Chapter 4 citation and impoundment process used elsewhere in the animal code.