(A) No person owning or keeping a vicious animal may permit the animal to go unconfined on his or her premises.
(1) A vicious animal is UNCONFINED, if the animal is not confined indoors, or not confined in a securely enclosed fence or a securely enclosed and locked pen or run area upon the person’s premises.
(2) The pen or run area must be clearly marked as containing a vicious animal, and must be designed to prevent the entry of the general public, including children, and to prevent the escape or release of the animal.
(3) This section does not apply to an animal owned by a licensed security company and on patrol in a confined area.
(B) No person owning or keeping a vicious animal may permit the animal to go beyond his or her premises, unless the animal is safely restrained and the requirements of § 90.15(E) are met.
(C) No person shall:
(1) Own, possess, keep or train any animal with the intent that such animal shall be engaged in an exhibition of fighting or make unprovoked attacks upon human beings, domestic animals, or livestock;
(2) Build, make, maintain or keep a pit he or she owns or on land he or she occupies or controls, or allow a pit to be built, made, maintained or kept on such premises for the purpose of any exhibition of animal fighting;
(3) In any manner encourage, instigate, promote or assist in an exhibition of animal fighting;
(4) Charge admission, be an assistant or an umpire, or participate or be present as a spectator to any exhibition of animal fighting.
(D) (1) No person may possess with intent to sell, offer for sale, breed, buy or attempt to buy a known vicious animal.
(2) This section does not apply to a person who is licensed to possess and breed an animal under classifications specified and regulated by federal authorities.
(E) A person owning or harboring a vicious animal shall register the animal with the local law enforcement authority.
(F) No carnivores that are both normally not domesticated and not native or indigenous to the State of South Carolina may be owned, possessed, harbored or kept in any manner in the county, except pursuant to a permit issued by the County Animal Control Department; or pursuant to a Class A, Class B or Class C license issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, under 7 U.S.C. §§ 2131-2157 and 7 C.F.R. §§ 2.17, 2.51, 371.2(g), authorizing operation as a breeder, dealer, exhibitor or operator of an auction sale; or as otherwise provided by state law, including but not limited to, S.C. Code § 50-11-2400.
(G) An animal shelter, a publicly owned zoological park, a veterinary hospital, a public laboratory, a publicly owned facility for education, a facility that is operated for scientific purposes, and all governmental entities shall be exempt from the requirements of § 90.15(F).
(H) (1) A person owning or harboring a dog or other animal used for hunting purposes shall determine whether the hunting animal meets the definition of a vicious animal.
(2) If the owner determines that the animal is a vicious animal, it shall be the responsibility of the owner to restrain such animal when it is not in the act of hunting.
(Ord. 2004-11, passed 6-21-04; Am. Ord. 2009-03, passed 4-13-09) Penalty, see § 90.99