Orangeburg County, SC Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Chapter 4 of the county code defines 'nuisance' broadly to include a dog that habitually barks excessively or continuously, alongside animals that attack other animals, damage property, or repeatedly trespass onto a neighbor's land (Sec. 4-61). Sec. ' The Orangeburg County Animal Control Department, not the sheriff's office, investigates these complaints. Sec. 4-222 requires a substantiated report, meaning a signed sworn statement or an officer's personal observation, before an animal control officer (ACO) opens a file, unless the barking also poses a broader public-safety risk such as the spread of rabies.

A first ticket under Sec. 4-241 can be either a written warning or an ordinance summons at the officer's discretion; a second or later violation must be issued as an ordinance summons. Sec. 00 or 90 days for a second or subsequent conviction. This chapter only applies inside unincorporated Orangeburg County and any municipality that has separately adopted the chapter and signed the county's standard intergovernmental enforcement agreement under Sec. 4-85; the City of Orangeburg and the county's other incorporated towns enforce their own noise complaints under their own codes.