Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

720 ILCS 5/48-1

(720 ILCS 5/48-1)

(was 720 ILCS 5/26-5)

Sec. 48-1. Dog fighting.

(For other provisions that may apply to dog
fighting, see the Humane Care for Animals Act.  For provisions similar to this
Section that apply to animals other than dogs, see in particular Section 4.01
of the Humane Care for Animals Act.)

(a) No person may own, capture, breed, train, or lease any
dog which he or she knows is intended for use in any
show, exhibition, program, or other activity featuring or otherwise
involving a fight between the dog and any other animal or human, or the
intentional killing of any dog for the purpose of sport, wagering, or
entertainment.

(b) No person may promote, conduct, carry on, advertise,
collect money for or in any other manner assist or aid in the
presentation for purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment of
any show, exhibition, program, or other activity involving
a fight between 2 or more dogs or any dog and human,
or the intentional killing of any dog.

(c) No person may sell or offer for sale, ship, transport,
or otherwise move, or deliver or receive any dog which he or she
knows has been captured, bred, or trained, or will be used,
to fight another dog or human or be intentionally killed for
purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment.

(c-5) No person may solicit a minor to violate this Section.

(d) No person may manufacture for sale, shipment, transportation,
or delivery any device or equipment which he or she knows or should know
is intended for use in any show, exhibition, program, or other activity
featuring or otherwise involving a fight between 2 or more dogs, or any
human and dog, or the intentional killing of any dog for purposes of
sport, wagering, or entertainment.

(e) No person may own, possess, sell or offer for sale, ship,
transport, or otherwise move any equipment or device which he or she
knows or should know is intended for use in connection with any show,
exhibition, program, or activity featuring or otherwise involving a fight
between 2 or more dogs, or any dog and human, or the intentional
killing of any dog for purposes of sport, wagering or entertainment.

(f) No person may knowingly make available any site, structure, or
facility, whether enclosed or not, that he or she knows is intended to be
used for the purpose of conducting any show, exhibition, program, or other
activity involving a fight between 2 or more dogs, or any dog and human, or the
intentional killing of any dog or knowingly manufacture, distribute, or
deliver fittings to be used in a fight between 2 or more dogs or a dog and
human.

(g) No person may knowingly attend or otherwise patronize any show, exhibition,
program, or other activity featuring or otherwise involving a fight between
2 or more dogs, or any dog and human, or the intentional killing of
any dog for purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment.

(h) No person may tie or attach or fasten any live animal to any
machine or device propelled by any power for the purpose of causing the
animal to be pursued by a dog or dogs.  This subsection (h) applies only
when the dog is intended to be used in a dog fight.

(i) Sentence.

(1) Any person convicted of violating subsection (a),

(b), (c), or (h) of this Section is guilty of a Class 4 felony for a first violation and a Class 3 felony for a second or subsequent violation, and may be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000.

(1.5) A person who knowingly owns a dog for fighting

purposes or for producing a fight between 2 or more dogs or a dog and human or who knowingly offers for sale or sells a dog bred for fighting is guilty of a Class 3 felony and may be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000, if the dog participates in a dogfight and any of the following factors is present:

(i) the dogfight is performed in the presence of

a person under 18 years of age;

(ii) the dogfight is performed for the purpose of

or in the presence of illegal wagering activity; or

(iii) the dogfight is performed in furtherance of

streetgang related activity as defined in Section 10 of the Illinois Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act.

(1.7) A person convicted of violating subsection

(c-5) of this Section is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

(2) Any person convicted of violating subsection (d)

or (e) of this Section is guilty of a Class 4 felony for a first violation. A second or subsequent violation of subsection (d) or (e) of this Section is a Class 3 felony.

(2.5) Any person convicted of violating subsection

(f) of this Section is guilty of a Class 4 felony. Any person  convicted of violating  subsection (f) of this Section in which the site, structure, or facility made available to violate subsection (f) is located within 1,000 feet of a school, public park, playground, child care institution, day care center, part day child care facility, day care home, group day care home, or a facility providing programs or services exclusively directed toward persons under 18 years of age is guilty of a Class 3 felony for a first violation and a Class 2 felony for a second or subsequent violation.

(3) Any person convicted of violating subsection (g)

of this Section is guilty of a Class 4 felony for a first violation.  A second or subsequent violation of subsection (g) of this Section is a Class 3 felony.  If a person under 13 years of age is present at any show, exhibition, program, or other activity prohibited in subsection (g), the parent, legal guardian, or other person who is 18 years of age or older who brings that person under 13 years of age to that show, exhibition, program, or other activity is guilty of a Class 3 felony for a first violation and a Class 2 felony for a second or subsequent violation.

(i-5) A person who commits a felony violation of this Section is subject to the property forfeiture provisions set forth in Article 124B of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963.

(j) Any dog or equipment involved in a violation of this Section shall
be immediately seized and impounded under Section 12 of the Humane Care for
Animals Act when located at any show, exhibition, program, or other activity
featuring or otherwise involving a dog fight for the purposes of sport,
wagering, or entertainment.

(k) Any vehicle or conveyance other than a common carrier that is used
in violation of this Section shall be seized, held, and offered for sale at
public auction by the sheriff's department of the proper jurisdiction, and
the proceeds from the sale shall be remitted to the general fund of the
county where the violation took place.

(l) Any veterinarian in this State who is presented with a dog for treatment
of injuries or wounds resulting from fighting where there is a reasonable
possibility that the dog was engaged in or utilized for a fighting event for
the purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment shall file a report with the
Department of Agriculture and cooperate by furnishing the owners' names, dates,
and descriptions of the dog or dogs involved.  Any veterinarian who in good
faith complies with the requirements of this subsection has immunity from any
liability, civil, criminal, or otherwise, that may result from his or her
actions.  For the purposes of any proceedings, civil or criminal, the good
faith of the veterinarian shall be rebuttably presumed.

(m) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, upon conviction for
violating this Section, the court may order that the convicted person and
persons dwelling in the same household as the convicted person who conspired,
aided, or abetted in the unlawful act that was the basis of the conviction,
or who knew or should have known of the unlawful act, may not own, harbor, or
have custody or control of any dog or other animal for a period of time that
the court deems reasonable.

(n) A violation of subsection (a) of this Section may be inferred from evidence that the accused possessed any device or equipment described in subsection (d), (e), or (h) of this Section, and also possessed any dog.

(o) When no longer required for investigations or court proceedings relating to the events described or depicted therein, evidence relating to convictions for violations of this Section shall be retained and made available for use in training peace officers in detecting and identifying violations of this Section.  Such evidence shall be made available upon request to other law enforcement agencies and to schools certified under the Illinois  Police Training Act.

(p)  For the purposes of this Section, "school" has the meaning ascribed to it in Section 11-9.3 of this Code; and "public park", "playground", "child care institution", "day care center", "part day child care facility", "day care home", "group day care home", and "facility providing programs or services
exclusively directed toward persons under 18 years of age" have the meanings ascribed to them in Section 11-9.4 of this Code.

(Source: P.A. 96-226, eff. 8-11-09; 96-712, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 96-1091, eff. 1-1-11; 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13.)