Changes have been made to Beaufort County’s animal-control ordinance.

Those changes were approved by the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners during the board’s Sept. 9 meeting. The vote to approve the changes was unanimous.

A major change to the ordinance includes the addition of this section: “This ordinance does not supercede any ordinance found to be more restrictive regarding animal regulations including but not limited to homeowners or subdivision covenants regarding same.”

The ordinance addresses items such as cruelty to animals, animal abandonment and dangerous dogs. The ordinance increases some fees that Beaufort County Animal Control charges for services it provides.

A proposal to increase the fee for use of the department’s incinerator (used to dispose of dead animals) by an outside entity from 90 cents per pound to $150 per pound to dispose of material was rejected. Instead, it was replaced by a requirement that an outside entity would pay $100 to use the incinerator.

Operating the incinerator is costly, county officials have been told.

Animal-control officers may declare a dog as dangerous when:

• an unprovoked dog does bodily harm to a person on public property or private property;

• a dog is owned primarily or in part for the purpose of dog fighting or a dog is trained for dog fighting;

• an unprovoked and unrestrained dog chases or approaches a person on a street, sidewalk or public property in a terrorizing method or attitude of attack;

• a dog that has killed or inflicted severe injury upon a domestic animal when not on property owned by the dog’s owner.

After a dog is declared dangerous, its owner has three days to appeal that declaration in writing to a designated dangerous-dog board member. If an appeal is made, a hearing must be conducted within 10 days of the appeal being submitted. The board makes the final ruling in the case.

If the victim or the dog’s owner does not appear at the hearing, the ruling in the case shall go in favor of the party present. If the victim and the dog’s owner do not attend the hearing, the case shall be dismissed.

If the ruling goes against the dog’s owner, that ruling may be appealed to Superior Court.

A dog determined to be dangerous is required to be confined under specific guidelines, including erecting a sign that informs the public about the presence of a dangerous dog.

If the owner of a dangerous dog refuses or is unable to comply with the guidelines, the dog may be euthanized.

Under the ordinance, dogs in the process of hunting game are not considered to be dogs running at large.

“Upon investigating an alleged nuisance violation, the complaining witness must be willing to testify in court to the alleged nuisance. The complainant must also sign a copy of the investigative report. If the complainant is unwilling to do so, the investigation will be dismissed and no further action taken,” reads the ordinance.

Earlier this summer, Commissioner Hood Richardson that part of the ordinance would help prevent facetious or unfounded complaints from being made against animal owners.

The penalty for the first violation of an offense specified in the ordinance is $50, with subsequent violations resulting in higher penalties. A second violation would cost $75, a third violation would cost $150, a fourth violation would cost $250 and a fifth violation would cost $500.

If payment is not received within the time period stated on a citation, criminal charges may be filed for the violation the defendant was cited for, according to the ordinance.