Title 47, Animals, Livestock, and Poultry

The department may employ a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine to serve as public health veterinarian of the department. In addition to the duties as public health veterinarian, this person shall aid administratively in the prevention and control of all diseases communicable …

The enforcement of the provisions of this chapter must be carried out under the direct supervision of the department. It is unlawful for anyone to obstruct or interfere with the authorized representative of the department as he carries out the provisions of this chapter.

(A) No carnivores, which normally are not domesticated, may be sold as pets in this State. A carnivore kept by an individual must not be allowed to run at large and then returned to confinement. A normally wild animal indigenous to this State, if held captive for a period of time…

A pet owner must have his pet inoculated against rabies at a frequency to provide continuous protection of the pet from rabies using a vaccine approved by the department and licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture. The rabies inoculation for pets must be administe…

A pet owner or any other person shall notify the county health department if: (1) a pet or other animal is affected by rabies; (2) a pet or other animal is suspected of having rabies; or (3) a pet has been attacked or bitten by a domesticated or wild animal known or suspected of …

Every physician after his first professional attendance upon a person bitten by a pet or other animal, by the end of the next working day, shall report the bite to the county health department and the name, age, sex, weight, address, and telephone number of the person bitten. If …

This chapter may be referred to as the "Pseudorabies Control and Eradication Act" and must be administered by the State Livestock-Poultry Health Commission in accordance with this chapter and Chapter 4 of this title.

Unless otherwise stated, for the purposes of this chapter: (1) "person" includes an individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association, or other legal entity; (2) "swine" includes all animals of the Sus scrofa species; (3) "herd" means all swine on one premises except that, …

The state veterinarian and the Livestock-Poultry Health Service of Clemson University are vested with the authority to develop and institute programs to provide for the control and eradication of pseudorabies in this State and to adopt regulations necessary to carry out the progr…

(A) Whenever a veterinarian or other person in this State performing disease diagnostic services has knowledge or reason to suspect a swine or herd of swine has pseudorabies, he shall notify, within forty-eight hours, the state veterinarian of this fact. (B) Upon receipt of a rep…

(A) All swine imported into this State must be accompanied by a certificate of veterinary inspection. All swine must be identified to the herd of origin with an ear tag or other acceptable method of permanent identification approved by the commission. Purebred swine, if not ear-t…

A person violating this chapter or a regulation promulgated by authority of the state veterinarian is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished in accordance with Section 47-4-130. Each day's violation is considered a separate offense. The court may enjoin a …

Any domestic or domesticated animal found wandering at large or abandoned in the public ways or on the lands of any person other than its owner shall be an "estray."

It shall be unlawful for the owner or manager of any domestic animal of any description wilfully or negligently to permit any such animal to run at large beyond the limits of his own land or the lands leased, occupied or controlled by him. Any owner, manager or person violating t…

It shall be unlawful for any person to drive, cause to be driven or in any other manner permit to come into this State any horse, mule, hog, cattle, sheep or other livestock and suffer it to run at large in any marsh, forest lands or range in this State. Any person so offending s…

Whenever any domestic animals shall be found upon the lands of any other person than the owner or manager of such animals, the owner of such trespassing stock shall be liable for all damages sustained and for the expenses of seizure and maintenance. Such damages and expenses shal…

Any freeholder or tenant of land, his agent or representative, may seize and hold possession of any domestic animal which may be trespassing upon his premises and as compensation for such seizure may demand of the owner of every such horse, mule, ass, jennet, bull, ox, cow, calf,…

In case the claim shall not be amicably or legally adjusted and the trespassing animals recovered by the owner within twelve hours after the receipt of such notification, the owner shall further become liable in a sum sufficient to cover the maintenance and care of his stock up t…

Whenever any animal shall be taken up under the provisions of this article, it shall be unlawful for any person to rescue it or deliver it from the custody of the person impounding it; and whoever shall violate this provision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a …

In any criminal prosecution for violation of the provisions of Section 47-7-160, the defendant may plead, as a matter of defense, the full satisfaction of all reasonable demands of the party or parties aggrieved by such violation; and upon such plea being legally established and …

Any person finding an estray may take possession thereof and shall, if the owner is not found and no claim to such estray is made within three days, deliver or report the finding and taking up of such estray to the nearest magistrate, who shall sell such estray at public sale aft…

The proceeds of sale of an estray shall be applied first to costs of sale and next to costs of care and feeding of the estray, including a reasonable compensation as determined by the magistrate for the finder's labor for care and feeding. Any balance remaining shall be paid into…

Any person violating the provisions of this article, or attempting to conceal or appropriate an estray to his own use, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days for each offense.

Whoever shall be lawfully convicted of wilfully and knowingly marking, branding or disfiguring any horse, mare, gelding, filly, ass, mule, bull, cow, steer, ox or calf of any other person shall, for each and every such animal which he shall be convicted of marking, branding or di…

Whoever shall be lawfully convicted of wilfully and knowingly marking, branding or disfiguring any sheep, goat or hog of any other person shall, for each and every sheep, goat or hog which he shall be convicted of marking, branding or disfiguring as aforesaid, be subject to a pen…

The following words and phrases, as used in this article, shall have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Livestock" includes neat cattle, horses, mules, asses, hogs, sheep and goats; and (2) "Owner" and "stock owner" mean any person who owns livest…

It is lawful to brand livestock with the owner's brand in accordance with the provisions of this article.

In addition to, or as an alternative to, a brand, any person may have an earmark for marking livestock. All provisions of this article relating to brands shall apply to earmarks.

No person shall have or use more than one brand.

A wife who owns livestock separate from her husband or a minor who owns livestock separate from his father or guardian may have a brand. The father or guardian of any minor who has a brand shall be responsible for the proper use thereof.

Any person desiring to adopt any brand for branding livestock, which brand is not then the recorded brand of another, shall forward to the Secretary of State a facsimile of the desired brand together with a written application to adopt the brand. The application shall state where…

Upon receipt of the application and the fee, the Secretary of State shall register the brand and issue to the applicant a certificate showing that his brand has been registered, unless the brand is already registered as the brand of another or unless the brand would probably be m…

Upon receipt of the certificate provided for in Section 47-9-270 from the Secretary of State, the owner shall record the certificate with the clerk of court in every county where he has livestock. For each recording the clerk of court shall receive a fee of one dollar. He shall r…

In any criminal or civil action in which title to livestock is involved or proper to be proved, the certificate provided for in Section 47-9-270 shall, when recorded as provided for in Section 47-9-280, be prima facie evidence of ownership of any livestock bearing the brand shown…

Whoever knowingly and wilfully shall take and use any horse, mare or mule without the consent of the owner thereof, but without intent to steal, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprison…

A registered brand for livestock is the property of the person adopting and registering the brand, his heirs and assigns, until and unless the brand is cancelled or revoked as provided in this article.

Any brand registered under the terms of this article may be conveyed to another by an instrument in writing, in duplicate, duly executed, but the conveyance shall not be complete until the instrument has been registered with the Secretary of State. Upon registration of the instru…

The Secretary of State shall cancel the registration of any brand: (1) at the written request of the owner; or (2) upon the order of any court of competent jurisdiction.

The registration of any brand granted under this article may be revoked by the order of any court in this State upon a showing of improper use of the brand.

If livestock are branded by the owner, they shall be branded as follows: Neat cattle, horses, mules and asses shall be branded before they are twelve months old; hogs, sheep and goats shall be branded before they are six months old. The ages specified herein shall not apply to li…

If any owner who purchases or acquires livestock from another brands the livestock with his own brand, he shall do so in the presence of at least two disinterested parties. The disinterested parties shall certify in writing that they witnessed the branding of the livestock. The c…

It is unlawful for any person to brand, or to cause to be branded, any livestock: (1) With any brand unless it has been registered with and certified by the Secretary of State as his brand and has been recorded with the clerk of court in each county where he has livestock; (2) Wi…

The Secretary of State shall keep an accurate record of all brands registered under the terms of this article and the names and addresses of the owners of the brands, which records shall be open to inspection by the public.

Any person who files down or drills, bores holes or otherwise makes alterations in the teeth of any horse or mule for the purpose of deception as to the age of such animal shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not exc…

The Secretary of State may promulgate rules and regulations which, in his judgment, may be necessary or proper to supplement or clarify the provisions of this article. The violation of any rule or regulation made and promulgated hereunder shall constitute a violation of this arti…

Any person convicted of a violation of this article shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.