South Carolina Code 47-3-770. When person is lawfully on premises; authority to use force to repel attack by dangerous animal when lawfully on premises; no liability for action taken to repel or restrain unprovoked attack of dangerous animal
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(A) A person lawfully is upon the premises of the owner within the meaning of this article when he is on the premises in the performance of a duty imposed upon him by the laws of this State, by the laws or postal regulations of the United States, when he is on the premises upon invitation, expressed or implied, of the owner, or when he is in the performance of a duty relative to public safety, which includes policemen, firemen, or other authorized personnel. A person may ingress to and egress from the premises for a purpose connected with the performance of the public safety duty.
(B) A person who lawfully is on the owner’s premises and who is attacked by a dangerous animal or witnesses the attack may use reasonable force to repel the attack. A person is not liable in damages or otherwise for action to repel or action taken to restrain or control an animal from an unprovoked attack.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 47-3-770
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- dangerous animal: means an animal of the canine or feline family:
(1) which the owner knows or reasonably should know has a propensity, tendency, or disposition to attack unprovoked, cause injury, or otherwise endanger the safety of human beings or domestic animals;
(2) which:
(a) makes an unprovoked attack that causes bodily injury to a human being and the attack occurs in a place other than the place where the animal is confined as required by § 47-3-720; or
(b) commits unprovoked acts in a place other than the place where the animal is confined as required by § 47-3-720 and those acts cause a person to reasonably believe that the animal will attack and cause bodily injury to a human being;
(3) which is owned or harbored primarily or in part for the purpose of fighting or which is trained for fighting. See South Carolina Code 47-3-710 - owner: means a person who owns or has custody or control of the animal. See South Carolina Code 47-3-710