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1 | AN ACT concerning regulation.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Animal Welfare Act is amended by changing | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | Section 3.6 as follows: | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | (225 ILCS 605/3.6) | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 3.6. Acceptance of stray dogs and cats. | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | (a) No animal shelter may accept a stray dog or cat unless | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | the animal is reported by the shelter to the animal control or | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | law enforcement of the county in which the animal is found by | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | the next business day. An animal shelter may accept animals | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | from: (1) the owner of the animal where the owner signs a | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | relinquishment form which states he or she is the owner of the | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | animal; (2) an animal shelter licensed under this Act; or (3) | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | an out-of-state animal control facility, rescue group, or | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | animal shelter that is duly licensed in their state or is a | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | not-for-profit organization. | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | (b) When stray dogs and cats are accepted by an animal | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | shelter, they must be scanned for the presence of a microchip | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | and examined for other currently-acceptable methods of | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | identification, including, but not limited to, identification | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | tags, tattoos, and rabies license tags. The examination for | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | identification shall be done within 24 hours after the intake |
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1 | of each dog or cat. The animal shelter shall notify the owner | ||||||
2 | and transfer any dog with an identified owner to the animal | ||||||
3 | control or law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which | ||||||
4 | it was found or the local animal control agency for redemption. | ||||||
5 | (c) If no transfer can occur, the animal shelter shall make | ||||||
6 | every reasonable attempt to contact the owner, agent, or | ||||||
7 | caretaker as soon as possible. The animal shelter shall give | ||||||
8 | notice of not less than 7 business days to the owner, agent, or | ||||||
9 | caretaker prior to disposal of the animal. The notice shall be | ||||||
10 | mailed to the last known address of the owner, agent, or | ||||||
11 | caretaker. Testimony of the animal shelter, or its authorized | ||||||
12 | agent, who mails the notice shall be evidence of the receipt of | ||||||
13 | the notice by the owner, agent, or caretaker of the animal. A | ||||||
14 | mailed notice shall remain the primary means of owner, agent, | ||||||
15 | or caretaker contact; however, the animal shelter shall also | ||||||
16 | attempt to contact the owner, agent, or caretaker by any other | ||||||
17 | contact information, such as by telephone or email address, | ||||||
18 | provided by the microchip or other method of identification | ||||||
19 | found on the dog or cat. If the dog or cat has been | ||||||
20 | microchipped and the primary contact listed by the chip | ||||||
21 | manufacturer cannot be located or refuses to reclaim the dog or | ||||||
22 | cat, an attempt shall be made to contact any secondary contacts | ||||||
23 | listed by the chip manufacturer or the purchaser of the | ||||||
24 | microchip if the purchaser is a nonprofit organization, animal | ||||||
25 | shelter, animal control facility, pet store, breeder, or | ||||||
26 | veterinary office prior to adoption, transfer, or |
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1 | euthanization. Prior to transferring any stray dog or cat to | ||||||
2 | another humane shelter, pet store, rescue group, or | ||||||
3 | euthanization, the dog or cat shall be scanned again for the | ||||||
4 | presence of a microchip and examined for other means of | ||||||
5 | identification. If a second scan provides the same identifying | ||||||
6 | information as the initial intake scan and the owner, agent, or | ||||||
7 | caretaker has not been located or refuses to reclaim the dog or | ||||||
8 | cat, the animal shelter may proceed with adoption, transfer, or | ||||||
9 | euthanization. | ||||||
10 | (d) When stray dogs and cats are accepted by an animal | ||||||
11 | shelter and no owner can be identified, the shelter shall hold | ||||||
12 | the animal for the period specified in local ordinance prior to | ||||||
13 | adoption, transfer, or euthanasia. The animal shelter shall | ||||||
14 | allow access to the public to view the animals housed there. | ||||||
15 | While a stray dog or cat is being held for the period specified | ||||||
16 | in local ordinance, an animal shelter may release the stray dog | ||||||
17 | or cat to a facility operated by a rescue group for the purpose | ||||||
18 | of providing medical care if the animal shelter is unable to | ||||||
19 | provide that care. If a dog is identified by an owner who | ||||||
20 | desires to make redemption of it, the dog shall be transferred | ||||||
21 | to the local animal control for redemption. If no transfer can | ||||||
22 | occur, the animal shelter shall proceed pursuant to Section | ||||||
23 | 3.7. Upon lapse of the hold period specified in local ordinance | ||||||
24 | and no owner can be identified, ownership of the animal, by | ||||||
25 | operation of law, transfers to the shelter that has custody of | ||||||
26 | the animal. |
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1 | (e) No representative of an animal shelter may enter | ||||||
2 | private property and remove an animal without permission from | ||||||
3 | the property owner and animal owner, nor can any representative | ||||||
4 | of an animal shelter direct another individual to enter private | ||||||
5 | property and remove an animal unless that individual is an | ||||||
6 | approved humane investigator (approved by the Department) | ||||||
7 | operating pursuant to the provisions of the Humane Care for | ||||||
8 | Animals Act. | ||||||
9 | (f) Nothing in this Section limits an animal shelter and an | ||||||
10 | animal control facility who, through mutual agreement, wish to | ||||||
11 | enter into an agreement for animal control, boarding, holding, | ||||||
12 | measures to improve life-saving, or other services provided | ||||||
13 | that the agreement requires parties adhere to the provisions of | ||||||
14 | the Animal Control Act, the Humane Euthanasia in Animal | ||||||
15 | Shelters Act, and the Humane Care for Animals Act.
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16 | (Source: P.A. 99-310, eff. 1-1-16; 100-322, eff. 8-24-17; | ||||||
17 | 100-870, eff. 1-1-19 .)
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