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90_SB0052
510 ILCS 5/2.01a new
510 ILCS 5/2.04a new
510 ILCS 5/2.11 from Ch. 8, par. 352.11
510 ILCS 5/3 from Ch. 8, par. 353
510 ILCS 5/3.1 new
510 ILCS 5/5 from Ch. 8, par. 355
510 ILCS 5/7 from Ch. 8, par. 357
510 ILCS 5/8 from Ch. 8, par. 358
510 ILCS 5/24 from Ch. 8, par. 374
510 ILCS 5/26 from Ch. 8, par. 376
Amends the Animal Control Act. Requires counties to
implement a registration program for all dogs and for
unaltered cats. Exempts farm animals that are not housepets.
Provides that the county plan applies throughout the
municipalities of the county and pre-empts inconsistent
action by home rule units. Requires rabies vaccinations for
unconfined cats. Contains other provisions. Effective
immediately.
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1 AN ACT to amend the Animal Control Act.
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 2.11, 3, 5, 7, 8, 24, and 26 and adding Sections
6 2.01a, 2.04a, and 3.1 as follows:
7 (510 ILCS 5/2.01a new)
8 Sec. 2.01a. "Altered" means spayed or neutered.
9 "Unaltered" means not spayed or neutered.
10 (510 ILCS 5/2.04a new)
11 Sec. 2.04a. "Cat" means a member of the genus Felis.
12 "Juvenile cat" means an unaltered cat under the age of 6
13 months. "Feral cat" means a cat that is not owned.
14 (510 ILCS 5/2.11) (from Ch. 8, par. 352.11)
15 Sec. 2.11. "Dog" means a member all members of the family
16 Canidae. "Juvenile dog" means a dog under the age of 6
17 months, regardless of whether the dog has been altered.
18 (Source: P. A. 78-795.)
19 (510 ILCS 5/3) (from Ch. 8, par. 353)
20 Sec. 3. Administrator; wardens; powers.
21 (a) The County Board Chairman with the advice and
22 consent of the County Board shall appoint, as Administrator,
23 a veterinarian licensed by this State. Appointments shall be
24 made as necessary to keep this position filled at all times.
25 The Administrator may appoint as many Deputy Administrators
26 and Animal Control Wardens to aid him or her as are
27 authorized by the Board. The compensation for the
28 Administrator, Deputy Administrators, and Animal Control
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1 Wardens shall be fixed by the Board for services other than
2 for the rabies inoculation of dogs or other animals. The
3 Administrator may be removed from office by the County Board
4 Chairman, with the advice and consent of the County Board.
5 (b) The Board shall provide necessary personnel,
6 equipment, supplies, and facilities, and shall operate pounds
7 or contract for their operation as necessary to effectuate
8 the program. The Board may enter into contracts or
9 agreements with persons to assist in the operation of the
10 program.
11 The Board may use shall be empowered to utilize monies
12 from the county's their General Corporate Fund to effectuate
13 the intent of this Act.
14 The Board is authorized by ordinance to require the
15 registration of dogs and may impose an individual animal and
16 litter registration fee. All persons selling dogs or keeping
17 registries of dogs shall cooperate and provide information as
18 required by Board ordinance, including sales, number of
19 litters, and ownership of dogs.
20 (c) In obtaining information required to implement this
21 Act, the Department shall have power to subpoena and bring
22 before it any person in this State and to take testimony
23 either orally or by deposition, or both, with the same fees
24 and mileage and in the same manner as prescribed by law for
25 civil cases in courts of this State.
26 The Director, and any member of the Board shall each have
27 power to administer oaths to witnesses at any hearing which
28 the Department is authorized by law to conduct, and any other
29 oaths required or authorized in any Act administered by the
30 Department.
31 (Source: P.A. 87-157.)
32 (510 ILCS 5/3.1 new)
33 Sec. 3.1. Registration; applicability; home rule.
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1 (a) The Board shall by ordinance require the
2 registration of all dogs and unaltered cats, including
3 juvenile dogs and juvenile unaltered cats. The Board may,
4 but need not, require the registration of altered cats. As
5 used in this Section, "registration" means the creation of a
6 record identifying the animal and its owner; it does not
7 require the determination or identification of the animal's
8 ancestry or pedigree.
9 The Board shall provide a convenient means for obtaining
10 registration applications and completing the registration
11 process. For registration purposes, a dog or cat shall be
12 presumed to be unaltered unless the owner submits with the
13 registration application evidence that the animal has been
14 spayed or neutered. Such evidence need not be resubmitted
15 for renewal of the registration.
16 (b) The Board shall charge an annual registration fee,
17 to be determined by the Board, which shall be no less than
18 the following: $5 for altered dogs; $20 for unaltered dogs;
19 and $10 for unaltered cats. The registration fee for
20 unaltered dogs shall be at least $15 greater than the
21 registration fee for altered dogs. If the Board requires the
22 registration of altered cats, it may but need not charge a
23 registration fee for altered cats; if it does, the
24 registration fee for unaltered cats shall be at least $10
25 greater than the registration fee for altered cats.
26 The Board may allow the owner of an unaltered dog or cat
27 that is kept in an unaltered condition in order to qualify
28 for exhibition to register the dog or cat at the altered rate
29 until the dog or cat is first bred.
30 The Board may allow the owner of an unaltered dog or cat
31 that is kept in an unaltered condition for reasons of the
32 animal's health to register the dog or cat at the altered
33 rate upon submission of a written statement from a licensed
34 veterinarian stating that spaying or neutering the animal
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1 would be likely to have a deleterious effect on the animal's
2 health.
3 (c) The Board shall charge a penalty for failure to
4 register or renew a required registration within 30 days
5 after that registration or renewal is required. The penalty
6 shall be at least $25 and no more than $200, and it shall be
7 in addition to the registration fee otherwise required.
8 (d) The requirements of this Section do not apply to a
9 dog or cat that lives on farm property unless the dog or cat
10 lives in the house and is treated as a pet.
11 (e) The Board shall allow persons to register as
12 caretakers who, outside the course of their employment,
13 provide food or shelter for feral cats. There shall be no
14 fee for registration as a caretaker of feral cats. The Board
15 shall not require the registration of feral cats but shall
16 encourage caretakers to have the feral cats under their care
17 spayed or neutered as soon as possible and shall notify all
18 registered caretakers of the availability of funds to help
19 defray the cost of spaying and neutering. The Board may
20 require animal control personnel to assist caretakers in
21 trapping feral cats in order to have them spayed or neutered.
22 (f) The Board may require persons who maintain
23 registries of dogs or cats to cooperate with the Board and
24 provide available information relating to the sale, breeding,
25 and ownership of those dogs or cats.
26 The Board may require a person who transfers ownership of
27 a dog or cat (whether by sale, gift, barter, exchange,
28 donation, auction, raffle, or otherwise and whether for
29 consideration or not) to provide information identifying the
30 dog or cat and the new owner.
31 (g) A person shall not transfer or offer to transfer
32 ownership of an unregistered dog or an unregistered unaltered
33 cat (whether by sale, gift, barter, exchange, donation,
34 auction, raffle, or otherwise and whether for consideration
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1 or not) in any public place.
2 A person shall not publish or advertise in any way the
3 availability of any dog or unaltered cat for sale, exchange,
4 adoption, or other transfer of ownership unless the dog or
5 unaltered cat has a current valid registration and the
6 publication or advertisement includes the registration
7 number. This does not restrict advertising of a planned
8 litter that has not been born at the time the advertisement
9 is ordered.
10 This subsection does not apply to the acquisition,
11 transfer, offer to transfer, or advertisement of an
12 unregistered animal by an animal shelter or pound, so long as
13 the animal is required to be registered by its new or present
14 owner as a condition of release from the animal shelter or
15 pound.
16 (h) The Board shall establish a Citizen Advisory
17 Committee, which shall meet at least twice each year for the
18 purpose of providing information and suggestions to the Board
19 and animal control personnel on animal control matters. The
20 Committee shall consist of one person from each of the
21 following categories, appointed by the county board chairman
22 with the approval of the Board for a term of 2 years: a
23 county board member; an animal control warden, administrator,
24 or deputy administrator; a humane society member; a
25 veterinarian; a representative of the farming community; a
26 cat or dog breeder; a law enforcement officer; and a member
27 of the general public not included within any of the other
28 categories. Members of the Committee must reside within the
29 county (unless no person who resides within the county is
30 eligible and willing to serve) and shall not be compensated
31 for the performance of their duties.
32 (i) Every county (including a home rule county) shall
33 implement a registration program that conforms with the
34 requirements of this Section. The registration program
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1 adopted by the county under this Section shall apply in all
2 municipalities of the county, including home rule
3 municipalities. This Section is a limitation under
4 subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
5 Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of
6 powers and functions exercised by the State.
7 (j) This Act does not authorize the board of any county
8 to require that any veterinarian spay or neuter any animal or
9 perform any other veterinary procedure for a fee that is less
10 than that usually charged by that veterinarian for that
11 procedure.
12 (510 ILCS 5/5) (from Ch. 8, par. 355)
13 Sec. 5. Powers and duties. It shall be the duty of the
14 Administrator, through education, registration, rabies
15 inoculation, stray control, impoundment, quarantine, and any
16 other means deemed necessary, to control and prevent the
17 spread of rabies in the his county. It shall also be the
18 duty of the Administrator to investigate and substantiate all
19 claims made under Section 19 of this Act.
20 The Administrator, Deputy Administrators, and Animal
21 Control Wardens shall not have the power of police officers
22 except for the purposes of issuing and serving citations and
23 orders for violations of this Act. The Administrator, Deputy
24 Administrators, and Animal Control Wardens are prohibited
25 from carrying weapons. Animal Control Wardens, however, may
26 use tranquilizer guns and equipment. The sheriff and his
27 deputies and municipal police officers shall cooperate with
28 the Administrator in carrying out the provisions of this Act.
29 (Source: P.A. 87-1269.)
30 (510 ILCS 5/7) (from Ch. 8, par. 357)
31 Sec. 7. Fees and penalties; self-insurance.
32 (a) All registration fees and penalties for late
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1 registration or renewal that are collected shall be remitted
2 to the county treasurer, who shall place the monies in an
3 Animal Control Fund. This fund shall be set up by him for
4 the purpose of paying costs of the Animal Control Program.
5 The amounts deposited into the Animal Control Fund All fees
6 collected shall be used for the purpose of paying claims for
7 loss of livestock or poultry as set forth in Section 19 of
8 this Act and for the following purposes as established by
9 ordinance of the county board: funds may be utilized by local
10 health departments or county nurse's offices for the purchase
11 of human rabies anti-serum, human vaccine, the cost for
12 administration of serum or vaccine, and minor medical care,
13 and for paying the cost of stray dog control, impoundment,
14 education on animal control and rabies, public education
15 about responsible pet ownership and the benefits of spaying
16 or neutering animals, and other costs incurred in carrying
17 out the provisions of this Act or any county or municipal
18 ordinance concurred in by the Department relating to animal
19 control, except as set forth in Section 19. Moneys in the
20 Animal Control Fund may also be used for paying (i)
21 two-thirds of the cost of spaying or neutering animals owned
22 as pets by residents of the county who need assistance in
23 order to afford that cost; (ii) two-thirds or more of the
24 cost of spaying or neutering feral cats cared for by
25 registered caretakers; and (iii) the necessary clerical
26 expenses of the Citizen Advisory Committee.
27 (c) Counties of 100,000 inhabitants or more may assume
28 self-insurance liability to pay claims for the loss of
29 livestock or poultry.
30 (Source: P.A. 87-151.)
31 (510 ILCS 5/8) (from Ch. 8, par. 358)
32 Sec. 8. Rabies. Every owner of a dog or cat 4 months or
33 more of age not confined at all times to an enclosed area,
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1 shall cause such dog or cat to be inoculated against rabies
2 by a licensed veterinarian at such intervals as may hereafter
3 be established by regulations pursuant to this Act. Evidence
4 of such rabies inoculation shall be entered on a certificate
5 the form of which shall be approved by the Board and which
6 shall be signed by the licensed veterinarian administering
7 the vaccine. The Board shall cause a rabies inoculation tag
8 to be issued, at a fee established by the Board for each dog
9 and cat inoculated against rabies.
10 Rabies vaccine for use on animals shall be sold or
11 distributed only to and used only by licensed veterinarians.
12 Such rabies vaccine shall be licensed by the United States
13 Department of Agriculture and approved by the Department.
14 (Source: P.A. 78-1166.)
15 (510 ILCS 5/24) (from Ch. 8, par. 374)
16 Sec. 24. Other powers. Except as otherwise provided in
17 Section 3.1, nothing in this Act shall be held to limit in
18 any manner the power of any municipality or other political
19 subdivision to prohibit animals from running at large, nor
20 shall anything in this Act be construed to, in any manner,
21 limit the power of any municipality or other political
22 subdivision to further control and regulate dogs, cats or
23 other animals in such municipality or other political
24 subdivision including a requirement of inoculation against
25 rabies.
26 (Source: P.A. 82-783.)
27 (510 ILCS 5/26) (from Ch. 8, par. 376)
28 Sec. 26. Violations; penalties.
29 (a) Any person violating or aiding in or abetting the
30 violation of any provision of this Act, or counterfeiting or
31 forging any certificate, permit, or tag, or making any
32 misrepresentation in regard to any matter prescribed by this
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1 Act, or resisting, obstructing, or impeding the Administrator
2 or any authorized officer in enforcing this Act, or refusing
3 to produce for inoculation any dog in his possession not
4 confined at all times to an enclosed area, or who removes a
5 tag from a dog for purposes of destroying or concealing its
6 identity, is guilty of a petty offense for a first or second
7 offense and shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than
8 $200, and for a third and subsequent offense, is guilty of a
9 Class C misdemeanor.
10 Each day a person fails to comply constitutes a separate
11 offense, except that with respect to registration
12 requirements adopted under Section 3.1, each animal (rather
13 than each day) shall constitute a separate offense. Each
14 State's Attorney to whom the Administrator reports any
15 violation of this Act shall cause appropriate proceedings to
16 be instituted in the proper courts without delay and to be
17 prosecuted in the manner provided by law.
18 (b) If the owner of a dog subject to enclosure:
19 (1) fails to maintain or keep the dog in an
20 enclosure; and
21 (2) the dog inflicts great bodily harm, permanent
22 disfigurement, permanent physical disability upon any
23 other person or causes the death of another person; and
24 (3) the attack is unprovoked in a place where such
25 person is peaceably conducting himself and where such
26 person may lawfully be;
27 the owner shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, unless
28 the owner knowingly allowed the dog to run at large or failed
29 to take steps to keep the dog in an enclosure, in which case
30 then the owner shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony. The
31 penalty provided in this subsection (b) paragraph shall be in
32 addition to any other criminal or civil sanction provided by
33 law.
34 (Source: P. A. 87-456.)
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1 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2 becoming law.