How did South Carolina’s five-day shelter hold apply to an animal impounded just before closing?

Plain-English summary

The South Carolina Attorney General concluded that the day an animal was impounded did not count as Day One of the statute's five-day holding period. The time of intake, including just before closing, made no difference. Because the period was shorter than seven days, the AG applied the civil time-computation rule to exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

For an animal entering on a Monday, the opinion counted Tuesday as Day One and the following Monday as Day Five if there was no holiday. It said adoption, euthanasia, or transfer to an animal-care organization could occur on Tuesday after that fifth day. The quoted statute also required a good-faith effort to contact an identified owner and included exceptions for animals held pending litigation or a disposition hearing.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did an animal's arrival day count toward the five-day hold? A: The AG's 2013 answer was no, even if the animal arrived early in the day. The count began the following day.

Q: Did weekends and holidays count?
A: The opinion excluded Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from this five-day calculation under the time-computation rule it applied.

Q: When would the hold end for an animal impounded on Monday? A: In the opinion's no-holiday example, the fifth countable day was the following Monday, and disposition could begin Tuesday. Other statutory conditions still applied.

Background and statutory framework

Blacksburg's mayor asked four questions about shelter timing. The opinion quoted the animal-impoundment statute's five-day provision and South Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a), which excluded the starting day and intermediate weekends and holidays for periods shorter than seven days. Its answer addressed counting, while the statute separately conditioned disposition on notice efforts and litigation status.

Citations and references

The opinion applies the animal-hold provision quoted in its text and S.C. R. Civ. P. 6(a).

Official title

Clarifying the five days hold of impounded animals at a county/municipal shelter prior to disposition which is provided for in section 47-3-60(B) of the South Carolina Code.

Requester

The Honorable David Hogue, Mayor, Town of Blacksburg

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/november-4-2013/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/hogue-d-os-9685-11-4-13-five-days-hold-of-impounded-animals.pdf

Original opinion text

ALAN WILSON
A TIORNEY GENERAL

November4, 2013 ·

The Honorable David Hogue
Mayor, Town of Blacksburg
POBox487
Blacksburg, SC 29702
Dear Mayor Hogue:
This Office received your request for an opinion clarifying the five days hold of impounded animals at a county/municipal shelter prior to disposition which is provided for in section 47-3-60(B) of the South Carolina Code. 1 Each of your questions and its analysis follows. LAW/ANALYSIS:

The South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure state:
In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by these rules, by order of court, or by any applicable statute, the day of the act, event, or default after which the designated period of time begins to run is not to 1

Section47-3-60(8) of the South Carolina Code states:
(B) After any animal has been impounded for five days and is unclaimed by its owner, and after the animal shelter employees have made a good faith effort to contact the identified owner as required by Section 47-3540, the animal shelter employees, unless the animal must be kept pending disposition of a criminal or civil trial involving the animal or unless a hearing on the disposition of the animal is held prior to the trial, may dispose of the animal by adoption or by euthanasia or the animal may be turned over to any organization established for the purpose of caring for animals, such as the Humane Society.

S.C. Code Ann. § 47-3-60(8).

REMBERT c. DENNIS BUILDING

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Posr OFFICE Box 11549 • COLUMBIA SC ?9211 1549
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TELEPHONE 803-734-3970

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FACSIMILE 803-211-6?R1

The Honorable David Hogue
Page2
November 4, 2013

be included. The last day of the period so computed is to be included, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or a State or Federal holiday, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day which is neither a Saturday, Sunday nor such holiday. When the period of time prescribed or allowed is less than seven days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and holidays shall be excluded in the computation. A half holiday shall be considered as other days and not as a holiday. S.C. R. Civ. P. 6(a). I.

If an animal enters the shelter just before closing time on Monday, should the shelter count Monday as one of the five hold days?

If an animal enters the shelter at any time on Monday, Monday will not count as one of the five hold days.

II.

Under any conditions should the day the animal arrives he included in the five days holding period?

Under no circumstances should the day the animal arrives be included in the five days holding period. ill.

Should the five days holding period begin with Day One being the days after the animal enters the shelter, and the Day Five be at the end of the close of business on the fifth day (i.e. the animal enters shelter on Monday, the first day of holding period is Tuesday, and the holding period would end at the close of business on Saturday, meaning that the animal could uot be released to a humane society, adopted, or destroyed before Sunday morning at the earliest)?

To use your example, if the animal enters the shelter on Monday, Day One is on the following day, Tuesday. Day Five is on the Monday of the next week (unless there is a holiday) and the animal shelter may dispose of the animal by adoption or euthanasia or the animal may be turned over to any organization for the purpose of caring for animals on the day after Day Five, which is Tuesday. IV.

If the animal shelter is closed to the public on weekends, or any days during the week,

therefore making it impossible for an owner to come there on those days to identify and reclaim a pet, should the days of the week that the shelter is closed be included in the five hold days? Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are not included m the computation of the five days animal impoundment.

The Honorable David Hogue
Page 3
November 4, 2013

CONCLUSION
When calculating the five days animal impoundment provided for in section 47-3 -60(B) of the South Carolina Code, Day One is the day after the animal is impounded. Since the days of animal impoundment are less than seven days, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are excluded when determining Day 5. Sincerely,

Elinor V. Lister
Assistant Attorney General

REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

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Robert D. Cook
Solicitor General