Animal Ordinances in Charleston, SC (2026)
8 verified animal ordinances for Charleston, South Carolina, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Chickens & Livestock
Keeping chickens or other poultry in Charleston requires a poultry permit and at least 50 feet from a neighboring dwelling, and roosters are banned outright under City Code § 5-8. Livestock needs a separate permit, a 1-acre minimum lot, and a 150-foot buffer from other dwellings.
Charleston Backyard Chickens & Livestock Rules
Significant RestrictionsCity Code § 5-8(b)
It shall be unlawful for any person to keep, lodge, or maintain poultry or fowl within the corporate limits of the city without the issuance of a poultry or fowl permit and after paying a permit fee as required by the division. To keep, lodge, or maintain poultry or fowl, there must be at least a distance of fifty (50) feet or more between where the poultry or fowl are being housed and any dwel...
Dog Leash Laws
Charleston requires every animal off its owner's property to be on a leash no longer than 8 feet, per City Code § 5-4 and § 5-5. Letting a dog run loose on a street, sidewalk, park, or someone else's property is prohibited, and tying an animal up and walking away is restricted too.
Charleston Dog Leash & Restraint Law
Some RestrictionsCity Code § 5-4(a)
No person owning or having possession, charge, custody or control of any animal shall cause, permit or allow the animal to stray or in any manner to run at large in or upon any public street, sidewalk, athletic field, athletic facility, or park or upon the property of another, if such animal is not under physical control of a person using a leash so as to allow the animal to be controlled by sa...
Exotic Pets
Nobody may keep a wild, exotic, or non-domestic animal, from primates to big cats to coyotes, anywhere in Charleston without first applying for and receiving a permit from the Division of Animal Control, which can require caging, add extra conditions, or revoke the permit if the animal menaces public safety.
Charleston Wild and Exotic Animal Permit Rule
Significant RestrictionsCharleston City Code §§ 5-101, 5-102
Sec. 5-101. - Permit for keeping-Required. No person shall have, keep or maintain any wild, exotic, or non-domestic animal without first applying to and receiving from the division a permit to do so; provided, however, that, the keeping or maintenance of such animals shall conform to any applicable zoning regulations and state law. Sec. 5-102. - Same-Authority of division. (a)The division is he...
Cat Rules
Charleston permits free-roaming (feral) cats citywide only through a formal trap-neuter-vaccinate-return program: each cat must be vet-checked, sterilized, microchipped, rabies- and disease-vaccinated, and ear-tipped, and a cat that attacks or bites is treated as a safety concern subject to re-trapping.
Charleston Free-Roaming Cat Program Rules
Some RestrictionsCharleston City Code § 5-61
(b)Free roaming cats.(1)Free roaming cats shall be allowed in the city as long as all of the following requirements are met:a.Cat must be assessed by a veterinarian and deemed healthy.b.Cat must be spayed or neutered.c.Cat must be microchippedd.Cat must be vaccinated for rabies, feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and panleukopenia.e.Cat must be ear tipped.(2)Free roaming cats shall only...
Mandatory Spay/Neuter
Charleston will not release an impounded, fertile dog or cat back to its owner intact unless the owner pays a steeply escalating redemption fee: $200 the first time, $300 the second, $500 the third, and on a fourth impoundment in the same calendar year the animal must be surgically sterilized before it can go home at all.
Charleston Mandatory Pet Sterilization Fees
Significant RestrictionsCharleston City Code § 5-57
(a)Sterilization; intact redemption fee. No impounded fertile dog or cat may be redeemed intact without first having been surgically sterilized and a fee paid therefor, which fee shall not exceed the then existing sterilization fee charged by the shelter, unless:(1)It is the first time the dog or cat has been impounded and the owner of the dog or cat pays a redemption fee of two hundred dollars...
Microchipping
Every dog and cat over 4 months old living in Charleston must either be microchipped with the owner's current contact information or wear a durable ID tag with the owner's name, address, and phone number, under City Code § 5-9. New residents get a 30-day grace period.
Charleston Pet ID & Microchip Requirement
Some RestrictionsCity Code § 5-9(1)
All dogs and cats over the age of four (4) months that live within the City of Charleston must either (a) be implanted with an identifying microchip with the owner's most accurate and current contact information by a person authorized to perform microchipping pursuant to state law, or (b) wear a durable tag or other form of durable identification with the owner's name, address, and phone number...
Veterinary Clinic Zoning
Charleston permits veterinary services as a conditional use in eleven commercial and mixed-use districts, plus the Upper Peninsula district, but only if animal boarding stays entirely indoors, buildings are soundproofed and ventilated so noise and odor aren't perceptible off-site, and no cremation happens on the property, per Section 54-207(q).
Charleston Vet Clinic Rules: No Onsite Cremation
Some RestrictionsCharleston Zoning Ordinance § 54-207(q)
q.Veterinary services shall only be permitted within the GP, GB, UC, MU-2, MU-2/WH, BP, JC, CT, LB, MU-1, MU-1/WH, and UP districts as a conditional use if the use satisfies, as evidenced by a site plan, floor plans and written description of the proposed facility, the following conditions:1.Boarding of animals shall be completely indoors;2.Buildings in which animals are kept or exercised shall...
Bird Protection
The entire City of Charleston is legally declared a bird sanctuary, making it unlawful to kill, maim or injure any wild or migratory bird, or to destroy, rob or molest eggs, nests, or breeding places anywhere within city limits, with a narrow carve-out for lawfully licensed game-bird hunting on zoned land.
Charleston Bird Sanctuary and Nest Protection
Some RestrictionsCharleston City Code §§ 5-22, 5-23
Sec. 5-22. - Establishment of bird sanctuary; exceptions for hunting. The territory embraced within the corporate limits of the City of Charleston is hereby declared to be a bird sanctuary; provided however that nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the lawful hunting of game birds, as defined by S.C. Code § 50-1-30(1), as amended, on lands within the city that are zoned to permit such ...
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County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Charleston city rules.
Animal Ordinances in Charleston County →