Animal Ordinances in South Carolina (2026)

South Carolina is a closed-range "fence-in" state. Section 47-7-110 makes it unlawful for the owner of any domestic…

Keeping any live hog or swine anywhere within North Charleston is banned outright and automatically treated as a public…

Keeping chickens or other poultry in Charleston requires a poultry permit and at least 50 feet from a neighboring…

Columbia allows up to four hens per lot under Section 4-35, but bans roosters, hog-raising, and any other livestock or…

In unincorporated Florence County, keeping livestock or poultry is a zoning matter, not a blanket right. Table I lists…

Lexington County caps residential lots at four domestic chickens or fowl, bans roosters and nearly all livestock…

Pageland bans swine, goats, cattle, and other livestock or fowl from being kept anywhere in town under Section 4-97…

Aiken County allows up to six domestic chickens, including roosters, as a conditional accessory use to a single-family…

In unincorporated Anderson County, Sec. 7:4 of the zoning ordinance bars keeping livestock other than ponies and horses…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-43 requires all livestock to be housed with adequate food and water and…

Berkeley County allows up to eight hens as a conditional use on residential lots of 10,000+ square feet, but bans…

Dorchester County allows up to ten female chickens and rabbits combined on a residential lot larger than 7,500 square…

Livestock and horses are limited by zoning. In R-15, R-20, and ESD-PM districts, horses need at least 1.5 acres with…

Horry County's large-animal rules require livestock owners to provide veterinary care, sufficient food and water, and…

Richland County's animal care ordinance doesn't cap how many chickens or livestock a lot may hold; that sits in the…

Rock Hill allows up to 10 hens per property as an accessory use under the Zoning Ordinance, with a required…

Simpsonville's animal code has no livestock-specific ordinance, but Sec. 6-2 bars keeping any domestic animal or fowl…

Much of unincorporated Spartanburg County is rural and historically unzoned, so keeping chickens and small livestock is…

Unincorporated York County allows up to six chickens per lot as an accessory use to a single-family home in the AGC…

York County bans letting a dog run loose off its owner's land. Section 55.21(A) makes it 'unlawful for the owner or…

Aiken County makes it unlawful for a dog to run at large off its owner's own property; Sec. 4-30 requires a dog off the…

Anderson County requires every pet owner to keep their animal 'under reasonable control and restraint at all times,'…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-33 makes it unlawful for any dog owner or custodian to let a dog run at large…

Berkeley County Code Sec. 8-4(a) makes it unlawful for an owner to let a pet run at large on any street, highway, or…

Charleston requires every animal off its owner's property to be on a leash no longer than 8 feet, per City Code § 5-4…

Charleston County bans letting any dog or cat run at large off its owner's property, and imposes eight specific…

Every dog in Columbia must be on a leash, in an enclosure, or contained by an approved invisible fence system under…

Dorchester County's Animal Control Ordinance (Chapter 4) bars any animal from running at large off the owner's…

Florence County Code § 6-3 bars letting a pet or animal run at large anywhere in the unincorporated county except on…

Greenville County makes it unlawful for a dog owner to let the animal off the owner's property unless it is under…

Unincorporated Horry County has no citywide leash mandate, but it is unlawful to let a dog run at large off property…

In unincorporated Lancaster County, pets must be kept under restraint at all times, and off the owner's own land a pet…

Lexington County requires every dog to be kept under restraint at all times, and on a leash and controlled whenever…

Dogs in North Charleston must be on a leash or chain, or at heel and muzzled, whenever they're on a street, sidewalk…

Pageland requires every dog and other animal to stay under strict voice control or physical restraint whenever it is…

Unincorporated Pickens County does not impose a blanket leash mandate; Code § 4-4(a)(1) bars letting a dog run at large…

It's unlawful for any animal, not just dogs, to run loose in unincorporated Richland County. Section 5-5 requires every…

Rock Hill requires every dog owner to keep the animal under restraint at all times under City Code Section 6-36, with…

Simpsonville requires all dogs to be leashed and under control whenever off the owner's private property. Leashes may…

Unincorporated Spartanburg County requires every pet be kept 'under restraint' at all times under County Code §…

In unincorporated Sumter County it is unlawful for a dog owner to let a dog run at-large off the owner's own property…

South Carolina regulates dangerous dogs at the state level under Title 47, Chapter 3. The state does not impose…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-30 defines a restricted dog as a Pit Bull and bars owning, keeping or harboring…

South Carolina law forbids Charleston County from labeling a dog dangerous by breed alone. Instead, S.C. Code §…

Columbia's Code doesn't ban any dog breed outright, but Section 4-61 lists 'its breed' as one of several factors animal…

Florence County has no breed-specific ban: Code § 6-12 defines 'dangerous/vicious animal' by behavior, not breed…

Lancaster County has no breed ban; instead it declares dogs "dangerous" case by case based on behavior under Lancaster…

Lexington County has no breed ban but requires any dog the animal services director declares dangerous to be…

Rock Hill regulates individual dogs found to be dangerous based on their conduct under City Code Section 6-37, and…

Aiken County explicitly refuses to treat any breed as automatically dangerous: Sec. 4-32(c) states an animal is not…

Anderson County does not ban or restrict animals by breed: Sec. 4-1 states an animal 'is not a dangerous animal solely…

Horry County has no breed-specific ordinance, and South Carolina bars local breed bans. Any dog can be declared…

Simpsonville does not ban any dog breed. Instead it regulates dangerous dogs by behavior: Sec. 6-85 makes it unlawful…

Spartanburg County and South Carolina impose no breed-specific ban. State law is expressly breed-neutral: a dog is not…

Dorchester County has no breed-specific ban. Its Animal Control Ordinance classifies a 'dangerous animal' by behavior…

North Charleston does not impose breed-specific bans. However, all dogs must be properly licensed, vaccinated, and…

Pickens County's vicious-animal ordinance is behavior-based, not breed-based: Code § 4-1 states an animal "is not a…

York County can't declare a dog or cat dangerous just because of its breed. S.C. Code § 47-3-710(C), incorporated into…

South Carolina regulates the movement and disease inspection of honey bees under Title 46, Chapter 37, administered by…

Greenville County's zoning and animal codes set no specific beekeeping rule: there is no hive count, setback, or permit…

Horry County's animal chapter and zoning code set no specific beekeeping ordinance. Hives are treated as an…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance lets property owners keep beehives as an accessory use, but bans placing them in a front…

Beekeeping is legal across York County and protected as agriculture by state law. S.C. Code Section 46-45-20 counts…

South Carolina bans private possession of large wild cats, non-native bears, and great apes under the 2017 Large Wild…

Aiken County bars anyone from keeping a wild animal as a pet unless federal or state law specifically allows it, and…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 14-44 makes it unlawful to import any venomous reptile or exotic animal into the…

South Carolina law bars the sale of any carnivore that is not normally domesticated as a pet anywhere in Charleston…

Columbia bans residents from owning, keeping or exhibiting an extensive list of wild and exotic animals inside the…

South Carolina law, not a Horry County ordinance, controls exotic pets here: S.C. Code § 47-2-30(A) makes it unlawful…

Lancaster County Code § 6-52 bans keeping, maintaining or possessing any exotic animal within unincorporated Lancaster…

Lexington County Code § 10-92 makes it unlawful to keep, maintain, or possess any exotic animal within the…

Richland County bans keeping a long list of wild and dangerous animals as pets. Section 5-13(a) prohibits nonhuman…

Spartanburg County bans keeping any venomous reptile or 'wild or exotic animal' anywhere in the unincorporated county…

South Carolina bars selling wild carnivores as pets. S.C. Code Section 47-5-50 provides no carnivores that normally are…

Anderson County bans keeping any carnivore that is not normally domesticated and not native to South Carolina, such as…

Berkeley County Code Sec. 8-5(a) bars anyone from harboring or owning a wild animal, defined by Sec. 8-1 to include…

Nobody may keep a wild, exotic, or non-domestic animal, from primates to big cats to coyotes, anywhere in Charleston…

In unincorporated Florence County, no one may sell, trade, or give away a nondomesticated carnivorous animal as a pet…

Greenville County bans keeping a wild, dangerous or vicious animal as a pet or for display without an annual permit…

Pageland does not ban exotic pets outright, but Town Code Section 4-66 requires anyone keeping a poisonous reptile or…

Unincorporated Pickens County bans owning, possessing or keeping any nondomesticated carnivore under Code § 4-10(f)…

Simpsonville's code defines 'animal' to include any wild or domesticated nonhuman vertebrate, so wild and exotic…

South Carolina bans intentionally feeding black bears statewide under S.C. Code § 50-11-440 and restricts deer baiting…

Horry County Code § 4-33 makes it unlawful to feed, or to cause a congregation of, domestic or migratory waterfowl in…

Beaufort County bans feeding any wildlife in its designated passive parks, a rule folded into a broader…

Simpsonville has no ordinance directly banning wildlife feeding, but Sec. 6-2 and Sec. 6-84's nuisance rules apply if…

South Carolina has no standalone hoarding statute; hoarding is prosecuted under the general ill-treatment law, Section…

Columbia doesn't cap pets outright, but Section 4-63 requires anyone who keeps four or more dogs on one property to…

Horry County has no standalone animal-hoarding ordinance, but its care standards and South Carolina's cruelty law reach…

North Charleston zoning caps a residential pen, shelter, or structure kept for dogs or other small domestic animals at…

Pageland caps household pets at four cats and four dogs over one year old under Town Code Section 4-7. Animal control…

Simpsonville caps animals at four per lot under one acre. Sec. 6-84 declares it a nuisance to keep more than four…

Spartanburg County addresses animal hoarding through its Ordinance O-25-02 welfare provisions and South Carolina's…

Charleston permits free-roaming (feral) cats citywide only through a formal trap-neuter-vaccinate-return program: each…

Every cat owner in Charleston County must keep their cat currently vaccinated against rabies under S.C. Code § 47-5-60…

Dorchester County law makes it unlawful to let a fertile cat six months or older run at large on public property or on…

Greenville County requires every cat to carry current rabies protection under County Code Sec. 4-14(a). Unlike dogs…

Horry County requires no cat license but does require identification by collar tag, microchip, or other means. People…

In unincorporated Lancaster County, every cat over four months old must wear an owner identification tag and a current…

In unincorporated Richland County, cats are treated as pets under the animal ordinance: every cat over four months old…

Rock Hill treats cats the same as dogs under Chapter 6 of the City Code: every cat must wear a valid rabies vaccination…

Simpsonville does not require cats to be leashed, but cats count toward the four-animal-per-lot limit and must not…

Every cat and dog over four months old in unincorporated Spartanburg County must carry a current rabies vaccination and…

Sumter County has no cat-specific licensing or at-large ordinance; the dog-control article expressly excludes cats…

York County treats owned cats differently from free-roaming cats. Code § 55.01 defines a CAT as 'a domestic feline of…

Beaufort County Animal Services (BCAS) permits feral cat colonies free of charge under Code of Ordinances § 14-42. A…

Columbia exempts feral and free-roaming cats from ordinary licensing through its Community Cat Diversion Program under…

Florence County Code § 6-16 runs a Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Return program for community cats. Environmental…

Unincorporated Pickens County exempts sterilized, ear-tipped community cats from licensing, at-large enforcement, and…

Charleston will not release an impounded, fertile dog or cat back to its owner intact unless the owner pays a steeply…

Dogs impounded for running loose or nuisance cats must be sterilized within 30 days of redemption, with limited…

Richland County doesn't require every pet to be sterilized, but any animal impounded by Animal Services must be spayed…

Aiken County does not mandate spay or neuter for every pet, but every dog and cat adopted from the county animal…

Anderson County doesn't require pet owners generally to sterilize their animals, but Sec. 4-32 mandates it for every…

Charleston County does not require every pet to be spayed or neutered, but any dog or cat impounded by animal control…

Dorchester County lets a cat roam free only if it is spayed or neutered, microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and…

Lancaster County requires spaying or neutering as a condition of getting an impounded pet back or adopting one from the…

Rock Hill requires any outdoor female dog or cat over four months old to be spayed once she is kept where stray dogs or…

Spartanburg County does not force pet owners to spay or neuter, but County Code § 6-18 fines an unneutered pet caught…

Berkeley County does not order every pet cat spayed or neutered, but Sec. 8-7(j) lets a cat live as a lawful…

Florence County does not mandate spay or neuter for pets generally, but Code §§ 6-6(e) and 6-7 require it for any…

Greenville County will not let anyone adopt a dog or cat from its animal shelter unless the animal has first been…

Every dog and cat over 4 months old living in Charleston must either be microchipped with the owner's current contact…

Columbia doesn't mandate microchipping for every pet at home, but Section 4-67(a)(2) bars releasing any animal from the…

Horry County does not license dogs or cats, but every owner must equip pets with visible identification, a collar tag…

Lancaster County does not require every pet to be microchipped, but the animal shelter requires it in two situations…

Rock Hill requires every dog or cat reclaimed from the county animal shelter to receive a microchip implant under City…

Every dog or cat reclaimed from the York County Animal Shelter leaves with a microchip. Section 55.30(C) requires…

Florence County does not require microchipping of pets generally. Under Code § 6-12(d), once an animal is registered as…

Greenville County lets dog owners satisfy the mandatory pet-identification rule with a registered microchip instead of…

Dorchester County treats a microchip as a legal stand-in for a collar ID tag under County Code § 4-6, and it pays off…

Dorchester County makes it unlawful for any pet store, or its manager or employees, to display, sell, deliver, barter…

Horry County Code § 4-12(j) makes it unlawful for any pet store in the unincorporated county to sell, display, or…

Lexington County outlaws commercial dog/cat breeding kennels outright and prohibits selling or rehoming dogs and…

Richland County doesn't require pet stores to be adoption-only. Section 5-9 bans curbside and public-space animal sales…

Beaufort County does not ban retail pet sales outright: Code of Ordinances § 14-36 bars selling or giving away animals…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code classifies stand-alone pet grooming as a Personal Service under the…

A pet grooming, boarding, or training business in unincorporated York County is permitted by right if it keeps animals…

Beaufort County zones veterinary clinics as 'Animal Services: Animal Clinic/Hospital,' a use the Community Development…

Charleston permits veterinary services as a conditional use in eleven commercial and mixed-use districts, plus the…

Columbia's zoning code regulates veterinary hospitals and clinics as an Animal Care Use under Sec. 17-4.2(c)(3)a.2…

Dorchester County classifies veterinary clinics under Use Group 15(b), Medical, a category a 2025 zoning amendment…

Unincorporated Florence County allows veterinary clinics by right in five of its nine business and rural districts…

In unincorporated Horry County, veterinary clinics and animal hospitals are classified as "Animal Services" under the…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance classifies a veterinary clinic without boarding as an Animal Care (Limited) use. The…

Columbia's Code of Ordinances makes it unlawful to kill, maim or otherwise annoy with firearms, air rifles, slingshots…

Horry County's only codified bird-protection ordinance covers a single 114-acre park: Section 14-36 makes it unlawful…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code bars removing any vegetation from an active bird rookery on a development…

Sec. 24-3(3) makes it unlawful to kill, harm or harass any bird, along with mammals, reptiles and amphibians, in a…

Rock Hill designates the entire city a bird sanctuary under City Code Section 6-3, making it unlawful to kill, injure…

The entire City of Charleston is legally declared a bird sanctuary, making it unlawful to kill, maim or injure any wild…

New non-residential and mixed-use buildings in unincorporated York County must use bird-safe glass. County Code Section…

Columbia's citywide ban on keeping wild and feral animals carves out one permit path: a wildlife rescue organization…

A wildlife rehabber can legally hold species the county otherwise bans as pets. Section 5-13(b)(4) exempts a "wildlife…