Appendix 3: Draft of South Carolina Version of Georgia Law

Hunting Deer with Dogs

(A) For the purposes of this section, “hunting deer with a dog” includes:
(1) the act of releasing or in any other way causing a dog to attempt to pursue or be in
pursuit of deer; or
(2) taking or attempting to take deer by aid of a dog; or
(3) participating in the pursuit of deer with a dog; or
(4) a person who possesses a shotgun with buckshot on a public road or railroad right-of-
way. “Possession” does not include a or shotgun contained in a closed compartment,
closed vehicle trunk, or a vehicle traveling on a public road; and
(5) for all of the above, a person must be considered hunting deer with a dog until such
time that the dog owner or his agent regains physical possession and control of the dog.

(B) Any person hunting deer with a dog must cause the dog to be identified with a collar
bearing the dog owner’s name and telephone number. A person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction must be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than 30 days.

(C) Any dog in pursuit of deer, on property for which the dog’s owner does not have permission to hunt, that is found without a collar or without the name and telephone number of the owner on the collar may be considered to be “running at large” and may be impounded under Section
47-3-40 at the request of the property owner (how the owner gets the dog back is found in 47-
3-40).

(D) Any dog with identifiable owner information that is in pursuit of deer is not considered to be “running at large” and if restrained must be treated humanely and the owner of the dog must be notified within twenty-four hours. If the owner of the dog can not be notified local authorities must be notified within the same twenty-four hour period (need to insert misdemeanor violation for no notification). Any dog with identifiable owner information must be surrendered to the owner or his agent. In order to reclaim the dog the owner or his agent must:
(1) acknowledge ownership of the dog; and
(2) pay the person restraining the dog the sum of fifty dollars; and
(3) furnish to the person restraining the dog the owner’s name and address and identify
the property from which the dog originated.

(E) The owner of a dog in pursuit of deer that enters onto property for which the dog’s owner does not have permission to hunt is subject to civil action by the owner of the property onto which the dog has entered. Damages for the first offence will be presumed to be one-hundred dollars per occurrence. For a second occurrence within three months by the same owner’s dog(s) damages are presumed to be two-hundred dollars per occurrence up to a maximum of one-thousand dollars. These actions are non-jury matters and the magistrate has concurrent jurisdiction.

(F) For five or more occurrences on the same day or more that five occurrences involving the same dog(s) owner within three months, the activity is declared to be a public nuisance and the landowner may enjoin the activity and have a cause of action against both the dog(s) owner(s) and the owner(s) of land on which the dogs originated. Liability is established by proof of an intrusion by the dog(s) and damages are presumed to be an amount equal to one fifth of the current assessed value of the land owner’s entire property. (Need wording on injunction to stop dog hunting on the land as alternative to monetary damages. Also, if you go the injunction route you may need to be able to seek some form of damage from the dog owner)

(G) The prevailing party in any action brought pursuant to this section is entitled to the costs of the action and attorneys fees.

(H) It is unlawful to steal, harm, or kill any dog in pursuit of deer that has identifiable owner information or to remove or destroy any means of identification or tracking device from such dog. A person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction must be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned for no less than 30 days nor more than six months, or both per offense. In addition, each person convicted of a violation of this section shall pay restitution to the legal owner of the dog as determined in the discretion of the court.