10 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Durham County, North Carolina.
Verified from official government sources
The Durham County Animal Control Ordinance sets no numeric limit on backyard chickens; hen-keeping is governed by the joint City-County Unified Development Ordinance (zoning). North Carolina's right-to-farm law, NCGS 106-701, shields established poultry and livestock operations from most nuisance suits.
NCGS 106-701(b)
For the purposes of this Article, "agricultural operation" includes, without limitation, any facility for the production for commercial purposes of crops, a Type I compost facility, livestock, poultry, livestock products, or poultry products.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-86 makes it unlawful to intentionally or negligently allow a dog to run at large. Off the owner's property a dog must be under restraint (secure enclosure, attended leash, or electronic device); voice command is not adequate restraint.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-86
It shall be unlawful for any person owning, keeping, possessing or maintaining a dog in this county to intentionally or negligently allow the dog to run at large.
Durham County imposes no breed-specific ban. It controls dangerous dogs by behavior under Chapter 4, Article VIII and NCGS 67-4.1, which authorizes local dangerous-dog programs. NCGS 67-4.5 lets a county run its own program but Durham's is conduct-based, not breed-based.
NCGS 67-4.5
Nothing in this Article shall be construed to prevent a city or county from adopting or enforcing its own program for control of dangerous dogs.
Durham County's Animal Control Ordinance sets no beekeeping rules; hives are governed by the joint City-County Unified Development Ordinance zoning and protected as agriculture under NCGS 106-701. North Carolina beekeepers should also follow the NC Department of Agriculture's apiary program.
Durham County Code Article XI requires a permit for keeping an exotic animal. Sec. 4-302 bars keeping an exotic animal more than five days without first obtaining and maintaining all federal, state, and county animal-control permits. Inherently dangerous animals are separately restricted under Article XII.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-302(1)
No owner may keep an exotic animal within the territorial boundaries of the county for more than five days without first obtaining and then maintaining all permits required by the federal government, the state and the county animal control department.
Durham County's Animal Control Ordinance has no provision banning the feeding of wildlife. Wild animals are regulated by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission; feeding that creates a nuisance or harbors wild animals can be reached through general nuisance authority, but no county animal rule targets feeding.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-13 defines livestock as equine, bovine, sheep, goats, llamas, and swine per NCGS Ch. 68. The animal ordinance sets no head limit; where livestock may be kept is a zoning question under the joint City-County UDO, with NCGS 106-701 right-to-farm protection.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-13
Livestock shall include, but shall not be limited to, equine animals, bovine animals, sheep, goats, llamas, and swine as set forth in G.S. ch. 68, art. 3.
Durham County has no ordinance using the word 'hoarding,' but Sec. 4-62 makes it animal abuse to keep dogs in crowded conditions (under 100-200 sq ft per dog by weight). The five-animal kennel-license threshold and NC cruelty law backstop severe accumulation cases.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-62(5)(f)
Allowing animals to be kept in crowded conditions. As to dogs, less than 100 square feet of unobstructed area per each dog weighing 20 pounds or under, less than 200 square feet of unobstructed area per each dog weighing greater than 20 pounds.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-37 requires a kennel license for anyone who owns, maintains, possesses, or controls five or more animals of the same species. There is no flat pet cap below five; keeping five or more triggers a tiered kennel license and inspection.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-37(a)(1)
Any person who owns, maintains, possesses or controls five or more animals of the same species that have been spayed or neutered may apply for a general kennel license.
Durham County's animal ordinance applies to cats: they must be rabies-vaccinated (Sec. 4-39) and, like all animals, are 'at large' when off the owner's property and unrestrained (Sec. 4-13). Feral cats are defined in Chapter 4, and five or more cats trigger the kennel license.
Durham County Code Sec. 4-13
Feral cat means a domestic cat which has adapted to survive in the wild, is homeless and ownerless, and having descended from stray and possible generations of abandoned house pets.
1 cities in Durham County have their own animal ordinances rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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