KINGSTREE, S.C. (WCSC) – A Williamsburg County man is hoping for a change to a town ordinance restricting the number of dogs a resident may own.
Justin Singletary has 13 dogs, which is nine too many according to the Kingstree Town Ordinance Codes.
The code states:
“No residence shall be allowed to house more than four dogs at any one time within the town limits excluding puppies under the age of 12 weeks.”
Williamsburg County Animal Care and Control posted Singletary’s predicament on Facebook, which received over 460 comments and over 800 shares in less than a day.
When Justin Singletary moved to Kingstree, his main priority was taking care of his 13 dogs, but that was before he knew the ordinance laid out that there could be no more than four dogs in a single residence.
“Help me keep my family together, that’s all I want. Honestly,” Singletary says.
Over the last three years, Singletary said these dogs have saved him from a deep depression.
The town of Kingstree received complaints in September about the number of dogs Singletary owns.
When the code enforcement officer brought this to Singletary’s attention, he says he was under the impression they just received a warning rather than a call to action.
However, the town manager, Kipp Coker, says otherwise. He says they were made aware of this code violation months ago.
“Like I said, this has been going on since September, so we have been lenient, and we have helped and tried to make progress with Mr. Singletary,” Coker says.
Singletary says these dogs are his family and will fight to keep them together.
“It’s so hard to fight back the tears because I know if they leave this yard today, I would lose them, and I would never get them back…and I would lose myself,” Singletary says.
Though some of the neighbors say the dogs were well-behaved and not a bother, Coker says they had to do what they had to do.
“Yeah, we’re just trying to do our job, we’re not trying to hurt him in any way,” Coker says.
This ordinance was approved in 2,000 when council members made the decision based on complaints back then.
In his court appearance Thursday, he received a fine of $100 and will be expected to either move beyond city limits or get rid of nine of his dogs.
“It hurts me. It hurts me to the point, like, my heart just breaks. It’s like a hammer chipping at it. It’s not chipping at it fast, it’s chipping at it slowly,” Singletary says.
Singletary has a petition with over 850 signatures hoping to change the ordinance. He says he understands there are laws for a reason but hopes to change that.
Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
