South Carolina dog fanciers and enthusiasts: Extensive proposed amendments to Spartanburg County’s Animals ordinance seek to create new licenses for dog breeders, require inspections of their facilities, establish care and conditions standards for all dogs, and impose ownership limits. The ordinance is likely to be considered at the County Council’s next meeting, scheduled for Monday, April 21, 2025 at 5:15PM.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is deeply concerned with elements of the draft ordinance, and urges all dog breeders in Spartanburg to respectfully share their opposition to the proposed breeders ordinance with the members of the County Council (scroll down for talking points and contact information).
DETAILS ON PROPOSED CHANGES RELATING TO BREEDER REGULATION
- Creates a new definition of breeder for the purposes of regulation: A person who keeps, maintains or harbors any intact dog or cat ‘for the purposes of breeding and selling the puppies or kittens’.
- Expands the definition of owner to include, “any person who has an animal in his care or any person who acts as its custodian.”
- Limits any person or entity from owning, keeping, or harboring more than 20 dogs that are four months of age or older, regardless of property size (but would not apply to certain pet rescues).
- Requires everyone engaged in dog breeding as a business, occupation, or profession to obtain an annual county dog breeder license from animal control; and defines “engaged in breeding as a business, occupation, or profession” as having at least one unaltered female dog on premises and producing at least one litter of puppies to sell within a 12 month period.
- Before being licensed and before having a license renewed, a breeder’s property must be inspected by an animal control officer. Violations discovered during an inspection would be grounds for suspension of the dog breeder license if deemed necessary by Animal Control, unless the inspecting animal control officer provides the licensee with 30 days to remedy the violation(s). Inspection costs would be determined in separate County Council action.
- If licenses are suspended, all breeding on premises shall cease until a new license is issued.
The proposal also includes other extensive changes, including (1) providing standards of care for all companion animals and the premises where they are kept; (2) creating a new misdemeanor crime for those who leave an unattended animal in an enclosed vehicle that causes the animal to suffer heat stress; (3) creating a new law that requires owners to exercise proper care and control of their dog to prevent it from becoming a public nuisance, and provides examples of nuisance behaviors; (4) requiring clean up after a dog urinates or defecates on public property or the property of another; (5) creating a new law that bans barking or other animal noises that last for more than one cumulative hour within a 24-hour period; and (6) creating new statutes relating to the keeping of dangerous or vicious animals.
AKC CONCERNS AND TALKING POINTS
AKC shares in the goals of ensuring all dog owners act responsibly and in lowering public shelter and private rescue intakes. However, AKC is deeply concerned with several breeder-related provisions of the proposed ordinance. Requiring every person who has one intact female and that has produced a litter to sell in the prior 12-month period to become licensed as a dog breeder is overbroad, onerous, difficult to enforce, and rife with unintended consequences. Such a hardline declaration fails to consider why someone may decide to keep a dog intact that are not related to breeding, including an increasing number of scientific findings that indicate that spaying a female, particularly at younger ages, may not be in the best interest of her health. It also fails to explicitly recognize that purebred dog breeders may produce a litter with the intent to exhibit the puppies in competitive events (not to sell), but may incidentally sell puppies that they determine to be inappropriate to compete. Breeder oversight programs should be appropriately tailored so that professionals meeting certain criteria, not hobbyists, are regulated; and the Spartanburg proposal should clarify when someone should be considered to not be considered as “engaged in breeding as a business, occupation, or profession” of dog breeding.
AKC is also deeply concerned that this language will require hobbyists to secure business licenses for their premises, which could lead to zoning noncompliance.
Additionally, on principle, AKC opposes ownership or litter limits. Owners who meet their responsibilities, both to their dogs and their neighbors, should not be arbitrarily limited.
Many dog owners and hobbyists keep their dogs in their private homes. The proposed ordinance would require the inspection of those homes, raising significant invasion of privacy concerns.
SPARTANBURG COUNTY DOG OWNERS, TAKE THESE ACTIONS!
First, all Spartanburg County dog owners should review the proposed changes to determine how they would be impacted by the proposed ordinance. Some elements of the proposal will impact all dog owners in the county.
Second, email or call the members of the Spartanburg County Council prior to its April 21st meeting to respectfully share your concerns and your concerns with them.
Council Chairman A. Manning Lynch – (864) 596-2528, mlynch@spartanburgcounty.org
Councilmember Monier “Mo” Abusaft, District 1 – (706) 346-4465, mabusaft@spartanburgcounty.org
Councilmember Jack A. Mabry, District 2 – (864) 596-2528, jmabry@spartanburgcounty.org
Councilmember David Britt, District 3 – (864) 595-3300, dbritt@spartanburgcounty.org
Councilmember Grant DeSheilds, District 4 – (864) 596-2528, gdeshields@spartanburgcounty.org
Councilmember Bob Walker, District 5 – (864) 590-0409, bwalker@spartanburgcounty.org
Councilmember Jessica Coker, CPA, District 6 – (864) 542-9754, jcoker@spartanburgcounty.org
Third, plan to attend the Monday, April 21, 2025, County Council meeting. It will be held in the County Council Chambers at the County Administrative Office Building, 366 North Church Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29303. The meeting will begin at 5:15PM.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact AKC Government Relations – doglaw@akc.org