Foster v. State

In April of 1999, the Houston County Animal Control Office Office issued a written warning to Charles K. Foster, informing him that he was in violation of a provision of the Houston County Animal Control Ordinance Ordinance. The notice specified that, within 30 days, he should “limit the number of dogs and/or cats at this residence to four or apply for a special permit to maintain more than four animals.” He timely completed and submitted to the Office an official application for a permit, explaining that all of the 11 dogs on the premises were pets, and that he did not keep any of the dogs for any business purposes. When the Office denied the application for the special permit, Foster refused to comply with the Ordinance. Eventually, he was cited for violating § 10-20 of the Ordinance, which then provided, in relevant part, that

it shall be unlawful for there to be more than four dogs and/or cats on any residential lot that is less than five acres in size, subject to the following exceptions: 1 Animal owners who have an approved permit issued by the animal control board shall be excepted from this section.