South Carolina § 47-3-470 - Definitions.

§ 47-3-470. Definitions.

As used in this article:

(1) "Animal Shelter" means:

(a) a facility operated by or under contract for the State or a county, a municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the State for the purpose of impounding or harboring seized, stray, homeless, abandoned, or unwanted dogs, cats, and other animals;

(b) a veterinary hospital or clinic operated by a veterinarian or veterinarians which operates for the purpose set forth in subitem (a) in addition to its customary purposes;

(c) a facility operated, owned, or maintained by an incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, or other nonprofit organization for the purpose of providing for and promoting the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals.

(2) "Humane society" means an unincorporated nonprofit organization existing for the purpose of prevention of cruelty to animals.

(3) "Public or private rescue organization" means harborers of unwanted animals of any breed, including crossbreeds, who provide food, shelter, and confinement for a group of dogs, a group of cats, or a combination of dogs and cats.

(4) "Sexually mature animal" means a dog or cat that has reached the age of one hundred eighty days or six months or more.

(5) "Sterilization" means the surgical removal of the reproductive organs of a dog or cat in order to render the animal unable to reproduce.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 271, SECTION 1, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on April 8, 1998); 2019 Act No. 43 (S.105), SECTION 7, eff May 16, 2019.

Editor's Note

2019 Act No. 43, SECTION 10, provides as follows:

"SECTION 10. The General Assembly finds it is the best practice for a shelter, public or private, to prepare and maintain records documenting the number of animals admitted to the facility and the method by which those animals exit the facility, whether by adoption, fostering, natural death, euthanasia, transfer to another state, or other means of discharge."

Effect of Amendment

2019 Act No. 43, SECTION 7, in (3), substituted "Public or private rescue organization" for "Public or private animal refuge".