093_HB0184

 
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 1        AN ACT in relation to animals.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The Animal Control Act is amended by changing
 5    Sections 15 and 26 as follows:

 6        (510 ILCS 5/15) (from Ch. 8, par. 365)
 7        Sec. 15. (a) For purposes of this Section:
 8             (1)  "Vicious dog" means:
 9                  (i)  Any  individual  dog  that when unprovoked
10             inflicts bites or attacks a  human  being  or  other
11             animal either on public or private property.
12                  (ii)  Any   individual   dog   with   a   known
13             propensity,   tendency   or  disposition  to  attack
14             without provocation, to cause injury or to otherwise
15             endanger the safety  of  human  beings  or  domestic
16             animals.
17                  (iii) Any individual dog that has as a trait or
18             characteristic  and a generally known reputation for
19             viciousness,  dangerousness  or  unprovoked  attacks
20             upon human beings or other animals,  unless  handled
21             in a particular manner or with special equipment.
22                  (iv)  Any  individual dog which attacks a human
23             being or domestic animal without provocation.
24                  (v)  Any individual dog which has been found to
25             be a "dangerous dog" upon 3 separate occasions.
26                  No dog shall be deemed "vicious" if  it  bites,
27             attacks,  or menaces a trespasser on the property of
28             its  owner  or  harms  or  menaces  anyone  who  has
29             tormented  or  abused  it  or  is  a  professionally
30             trained dog for law  enforcement  or  guard  duties.
31             Vicious  dogs  shall  not  be classified in a manner
 
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 1             that is specific as to breed.
 2                  If a dog is found to be a vicious dog, the  dog
 3             shall be subject to enclosure.
 4             (2)  "Dangerous  Dog" means any individual dog which
 5        when either unmuzzled, unleashed, or  unattended  by  its
 6        owner, or a member of its owner's family, in a vicious or
 7        terrorizing  manner, approaches any person in an apparent
 8        attitude of attack upon streets, sidewalks, or any public
 9        grounds or places. If a dog is found to  be  a  dangerous
10        dog,  the  dog must be both muzzled and  leashed whenever
11        it is upon a street, sidewalk, or other public  place  or
12        grounds.
13             (3)  "Enclosure"  means  a  fence or structure of at
14        least 6 feet in height, forming or causing  an  enclosure
15        suitable  to  prevent  the  entry  of young children, and
16        suitable to confine a vicious  dog  in  conjunction  with
17        other measures which may be taken by the owner or keeper,
18        such  as tethering of a vicious dog within the enclosure.
19        Such enclosure shall be securely enclosed and locked  and
20        designed  with  secure sides, top and bottom and shall be
21        designed to prevent the animal  from  escaping  from  the
22        enclosure.    For  the  purpose  of  this  definition, an
23        owner's house may be considered an enclosure.
24             (4)  "Impounded" means taken into the custody of the
25        public pound in the city or town where the vicious dog is
26        found.
27             (5)  "Found to be vicious dog" means  (i)  that  the
28        Administrator,   an  Animal  Control  Warden,  or  a  law
29        enforcement officer has conducted  an  investigation  and
30        made  a  finding in writing that the dog is a vicious dog
31        as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) and,  based
32        on  that  finding,  the  Administrator, an Animal Control
33        Warden, or the Director has declared in writing that  the
34        dog  is  a vicious dog or (ii) that the circuit court has
 
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 1        found the dog to be a vicious dog as defined in paragraph
 2        (1) of subsection (a) and has entered an order  based  on
 3        that finding.
 4        (b)  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person to keep or
 5    maintain any dog which has been found to  be  a  vicious  dog
 6    unless  such  dog  is at all times kept in an enclosure.  The
 7    only times that a vicious dog  may  be  allowed  out  of  the
 8    enclosure  are (1) if it is necessary for the owner or keeper
 9    to obtain veterinary care for the dog or (2) to  comply  with
10    the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, provided that
11    the  dog  is  securely  muzzled  and  restrained with a chain
12    having a tensile strength of 300 pounds and not  exceeding  3
13    feet  in  length,  and  shall be under the direct control and
14    supervision of the owner or keeper of the dog.
15        Any dog which has been found to  be  a  vicious  dog  and
16    which  is  not confined to an enclosure shall be impounded by
17    the Administrator, an  Animal  Control  Warden,  or  the  law
18    enforcement  authority  having  jurisdiction in such area and
19    shall  be  turned  over  to  a  licensed   veterinarian   for
20    destruction by lethal injection.
21        If  the owner of the dog has not appealed the impoundment
22    order to the circuit court in the county in which the  animal
23    was  impounded within 7 working days, the dog may be humanely
24    dispatched.  A dog found to be a vicious  dog  shall  not  be
25    released  to  the  owner  until  the Administrator, an Animal
26    Control Warden, or the Director  approves  the  enclosure  as
27    defined in this Section.
28        No  owner  or  keeper of a vicious dog shall sell or give
29    away the dog.
30        (b-5)  If a vicious dog  is  impounded  under  subsection
31    (b),  it  must  be  either  spayed or neutered within 30 days
32    after the impoundment.  In all cases, a vicious dog  must  be
33    spayed  or  neutered before being returned to its owner.  The
34    owner of the dog is liable for the cost  of  the  spaying  or
 
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 1    neutering.
 2        (c)  It  is  unlawful for any person to maintain a public
 3    nuisance by permitting any dangerous dog or other  animal  to
 4    leave  the  premises  of  its owner when not under control by
 5    leash or other recognized control methods.
 6        Guide dogs for the blind  or  hearing  impaired,  support
 7    dogs  for  the  physically handicapped, and sentry, guard, or
 8    police-owned dogs are exempt from this Section; provided,  an
 9    attack  or  injury  to  a  person  occurs  while  the  dog is
10    performing duties as  expected.   To  qualify  for  exemption
11    under   this  Section,  each  such  dog  shall  be  currently
12    inoculated against rabies in accordance  with  Section  8  of
13    this Act.  It shall be the duty of the owner of such exempted
14    dog  to  notify  the Administrator of changes of address.  In
15    the case of a sentry or guard dog, the owner shall  keep  the
16    Administrator  advised of the location where such dog will be
17    stationed.  The Administrator shall provide police  and  fire
18    departments  with  a  categorized list of such exempted dogs,
19    and shall promptly notify such  departments  of  any  address
20    changes reported to him.
21        The  Administrator,  the State's Attorney, or any citizen
22    of the county in which a dangerous dog or other animal exists
23    may file a complaint in the name of the People of  the  State
24    of  Illinois  to  enjoin  all  persons  from  maintaining  or
25    permitting  such,  to abate the same, and to enjoin the owner
26    of such dog or other animal from permitting same to leave his
27    premises when not under control by leash or other  recognized
28    control  methods.   Upon  the  filing  of  a complaint in the
29    circuit court, the court, if satisfied that this nuisance may
30    exist, shall grant a preliminary injunction with bond in such
31    amount as the court may  determine  enjoining  the  defendant
32    from  maintaining  such  nuisance.   If  the existence of the
33    nuisance is established, the  owner  of  such  dog  or  other
34    animal  shall  be  in violation of this Act, and in addition,
 
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 1    the court shall enter an order  restraining  the  owner  from
 2    maintaining  such  nuisance  and  may  order that such dog or
 3    other animal be humanely dispatched.
 4    (Source: P.A. 86-1460; 87-456.)

 5        (510 ILCS 5/26) (from Ch. 8, par. 376)
 6        Sec. 26.  (a)  Any  person  violating  or  aiding  in  or
 7    abetting  the  violation  of  any  provision  of this Act, or
 8    counterfeiting or forging any certificate, permit, or tag, or
 9    making  any  misrepresentation  in  regard  to   any   matter
10    prescribed   by  this  Act,  or  resisting,  obstructing,  or
11    impeding the  Administrator  or  any  authorized  officer  in
12    enforcing  this  Act,  or refusing to produce for inoculation
13    any dog in his possession not confined at  all  times  to  an
14    enclosed  area,  or who removes a tag from a dog for purposes
15    of destroying or concealing its  identity,  is  guilty  of  a
16    petty  offense  for  a  first  or second offense and shall be
17    fined not less than $25 nor more than $200, and for  a  third
18    and subsequent offense, is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor.
19        Each  day a person fails to comply constitutes a separate
20    offense. Each State's  Attorney  to  whom  the  Administrator
21    reports  any  violation  of  this Act shall cause appropriate
22    proceedings to be instituted in  the  proper  courts  without
23    delay and to be prosecuted in the manner provided by law.
24        (b)  If the owner of a dog subject to enclosure:
25             (1)  fails  to  maintain  or  keep  the  dog  in  an
26        enclosure  or otherwise fails to maintain or keep the dog
27        as required under subsection (b) of Section 15; and
28             (2)  the dog inflicts great bodily  harm,  permanent
29        disfigurement,  or permanent physical disability upon any
30        other person or causes the death of another person; and
31             (3)  the attack is unprovoked in a place where  such
32        person  is  peaceably  conducting  himself and where such
33        person may lawfully be;
 
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 1    the owner shall be guilty of a Class  A  misdemeanor,  unless
 2    the owner knowingly allowed the dog to run at large or failed
 3    to  take  steps  to keep the dog in an enclosure or otherwise
 4    maintain or keep the dog as required under subsection (b)  of
 5    Section  15,  then  the  owner  shall  be guilty of a Class 4
 6    felony. The penalty provided in this paragraph  shall  be  in
 7    addition  to any other criminal or civil sanction provided by
 8    law.
 9        (c)  If the owner of a dog found to be a dangerous dog:
10             (1)  fails to maintain or keep the dog both  muzzled
11        and  leashed when it is upon a street, sidewalk, or other
12        public place or grounds; and
13             (2)  the dog inflicts great bodily  harm,  permanent
14        disfigurement,  or permanent physical disability upon any
15        other person or causes the death of another person; and
16             (3)  the attack is unprovoked in a place  where  the
17        other  person  is peaceably conducting himself or herself
18        and where that person may lawfully be;
19    the owner is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, except that  if
20    the  owner  knowingly failed to maintain or keep the dog both
21    muzzled and leashed, then the owner is guilty of  a  Class  4
22    felony.   The  penalty  provided in this subsection (c) is in
23    addition to any other criminal or  civil sanction provided by
24    law.
25    (Source: P.A. 87-456.)

26        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
27    becoming law.