O-11-44VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD
LAKE AND COOK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS
ORDINANCE NO. 0 -11 -44
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 5 ( "ANIMALS")
OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD
PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE
PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF THE VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD, LAKE
AND COOK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS, this
5th day of December , 2011.
Published in pamphlet form
by authority of the President
and Board of Trustees of the
Village of Deerfield, Lake and
Cook Counties, Illinois, this
h day of D mh r , 2011.
VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD
LAKE AND COOK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS
ORDINANCE NO. 0 -11 -44
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 5 ( "ANIMALS ")
OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD
WHEREAS, the Village of Deerfield is a home rule unit of local government under the
provisions of Article 7, Section 6 of the Illinois Constitution; and
WHEREAS, except as limited by Article 7, Section 6 of the Illinois Constitution, the Village
as a home rule unit of local government has the authority to exercise any power and perform any
function pertaining to its government and affairs, including but not limited to regulating for the
protection of public health, safety and welfare; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 5 of the Municipal Code of the Village of Deerfield, as amended,
regulates the conduct of animals and pet owners within the Village of Deerfield and makes it
unlawful for persons to keep or maintain vicious animals within the Village except under strict
control of the owner; and,
WHEREAS, the Village's Chief of Police has recommended that Chapter 5 be amended as
provided herein to further regulate the ownership, possession, restraint and confinement of dangerous
or vicious animals, and to authorize the impoundment and disposition of any vicious animal that is
not maintained in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 5 of the Deerfield Municipal Code;
and,
11/7/2011
WHEREAS, the corporate authorities ofthe Village of Deerfield have determined that it is in
the interests of public health, safety and welfare to amend Chapter 5 of the Municipal Code of the
Village of Deerfield as recommended by the Chief of Police;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF
TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD, LAKE AND COOK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS, in
the exercise of its home rule powers, as follows:
SECTION 1: That Section 5 -1 ( "Definitions ") of Chapter 5 ( "Animals ") of the Municipal
Code of the Village of Deerfield, as amended, be further amended to read as follows:
See. 5-1. Definitions:
(a) As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following
words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Animal" any and all types of animals, both domesticated and wild,
male and female.
(2) "At Large" means off the premises of the owner or custodian of the
animal and not under the immediate control of the owner or custodian.
(3) "Bitten" means has been seized with the teeth or jaws so that the
person or animal seized has been nipped, gripped, wounded, or pierced, and
further includes contact of saliva with any break or abrasion of the skin.
(4) "Dangerous Animal" means an animal that is (i) unmuzzled,
unleashed or unattended by its owner or custodian, and (ii) that is anywhere
other than upon the property of the owner or custodian of the animal, and (iii)
that behaves in manner that a reasonable person would believe poses a
serious and unjustified imminent threat of serious physical injury or death to
a person or a companion animal. "Dangerous Animal" also means an animal
that, without justification, has bitten a person or domestic animal without
causing serious physical injury. A dog shall not be considered a dangerous
animal if the conduct of the dog was justified because: (i) the threat or injury
was inflicted by the dog on a person in response to a crime or offense being
committed by such person, in the presence of the dog, upon the owner or
custodian of the dog, or in response to a willful trespass of other tort being
committed upon the premises of property owned or occupied by the owner of
the dog; (ii) the person injured or threatened by the dog was abusing,
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assaulting or physically threatening the dog or its offspring; or (iii) the dog
was responding to pain or injury, or was acting to protect itself, its offspring,
or its owner, custodian or a household member.
(5) "Dog" means all members of the family Canidae, either male or
female.
(6) "Dog License" means a license and registration tag required to be
issued annually for each individual dog.
(7) "Keep or Harbor" means to own, maintain, possess, control or use an
animal.
(8) "Impound" means taking an animal into the custody of a pound.
(9) "Owner" means any person owning, controlling, keeping or harboring
a dog or other animal.
(10) "Pound' means an establishment approved for the custody,
confinement or dispatch of dogs or other animals seized either under the
provisions of this Chapter or otherwise.
(11) "Serious Physical Injury" means a physical injury that creates a
substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious disfigurement,
protracted impairment of health, impairment of the function of any bodily
organ, or a need for plastic surgery.
(12) "Vicious" means the propensity to do any act that might endanger the
safety of any person or property of another, including, but not limited to, a
disposition to mischief or fierceness as might lead to attack on human beings,
other animals on public or private property without provocation, whether in
play, anger or outbreak of untrained nature.
(13) "Vicious Animal" means:
a. Any animal which has, without justification, bitten a person or
domestic animal without causing serious physical injury, and which has
previously behaved in a manner that the owner or person who harbors the
animal knew or should reasonably have known that the animal is
possessed of tendencies to attack or bite persons or domestic animals
without provocation.
b. Any animal which has, without justification, bitten a person or
domestic animal without causing serious physical injury, and which has
previously been determined to be a dangerous animal.
c. Any animal that has been found to be a dangerous animal upon 3
separate occasions.
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d. Any animal that, without justification, attacks a person and causes
serious physical injury.
e. A dog shall not be considered a vicious animal under subparagraphs
(13)a, (13)b or (13)d hereof if the biting or attacking conduct of the dog
was justified because: (i) the biting injury or attacking conduct was
inflicted by the dog on a person in response to a crime or offense being
committed by such person, in the presence of the dog, upon the owner or
custodian of the dog, or in response to a willful trespass of other tort
being committed upon the premises of property owned or occupied by the
owner of the dog; (ii) the person injured or threatened by the dog was
abusing, assaulting or physically threatening the dog or its offspring; or
(iii) the dog was responding to pain or injury, or was acting to protect
itself, its offspring, or its owner, custodian or a household member.
SECTION 2: That Section 5 -20 of Chapter 5 ( "Animals ") of the Municipal Code of the
Village of Deerfield, as amended, be and the same is hereby further amended to read as follows:
Sec. 5 -20. Dangerous .Animals; Determinations; Public Nuisance.
(a) It is unlawful for any person being the owner, custodian or keeper of
a dangerous animal, as defined in this Chapter, to knowingly or carelessly permit any
dangerous animal to leave the property of the owner or custodian of the animal while
unmuzzled, unleashed or unattended and under the control of its owner, custodian or
keeper.
(b) When beyond the premises of its keeper or owner, the animal must be
muzzled and restrained by a non - retractable leash no longer than six feet, and under
the constant physical restraint of the owner or keeper.
(c) Any dog which runs at large as set forth in Section 5 -19 is hereby
declared to be a public nuisance and such dog shall be apprehended and impounded if
found running at large by any police officer, animal warden or other person charged
with the enforcement of this Article.
(d) Any owner or keeper of a nuisance dog or a dangerous animal shall be
deemed guilty of a violation of this Section. In addition to any penalties imposed for
such violation, the owner or keeper of such a nuisance dog or dangerous animal shall
pay all costs incurred for impounding the dog or dangerous animal.
SECTION 3: That Section 5 -21 of Chapter 5 ( "Animals ") of the Municipal Code of the
Village of Deerfield, as amended, be and the same is hereby further amended to read as follows:
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Sec. 5 -21. Vicious dogs; procedure for removal.
(a) No person shall keep or otherwise maintain within the Village any dog which
is considered to be a vicious animal.
(b) Upon conviction of any person for a violation of this Section, he shall,
subject to the provisions of Section 5 -22, remove such dog from the Village within
twenty four (24) hours thereafter or within twenty four (24) hours after the period of
observation for rabies has expired, if applicable.
(c) Every day that such person fails to remove such dog shall constitute a
separate offense.
(d) If such person fails to comply, then, upon twenty four (24) hours' written
notice to the owner, such dog shall be apprehended and removed from the Village by
the person charged with the enforcement of this Article.
(e) If a vicious animal is kept in non - compliance with this section, or if
immediate impoundment is otherwise necessary for the protection of the public
health or safety, the Chief of Police or other person acting on behalf of the Village
may immediately order the animal impounded. The impoundment may continue, at
the discretion of the Chief of Police, through any subsequent investigation of the
Police Department and until any subsequent determination of a court or hearing
officer designated under this Chapter.
(f) The owner, keeper or custodian of an animal impounded pursuant to this
section shall be notified of the impoundment by certified mail or personal service
within two business days of the impoundment.
(g) As provided under Section 15 of the Illinois Animal Control Act, 510
ILCS 5/15, but without limiting the authority set forth in this Chapter, the court has
the authority to enter a decree restraining the owner of a vicious animal from
maintaining such animal within the corporate limits of the Village as a public
nuisance and may fiu ther decree that such animal be humanely dispatched.
SECTIONS: That this Ordinance, and each of its terms, shall be the effective legislative act
of a home rule municipality without regard to whether such Ordinance should: (a) contain terms
contrary to the provisions of current or subsequent non - preemptive state law; or, (b) legislate in a
manner or regarding a matter not delegated to municipalities by state law. It is the intent of the
corporate authorities of the Village of Deerfield that to the extent that the terms of this Ordinance
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should be inconsistent with any non - preemptive state law, this Ordinance shall supersede state law in
that regard within its jurisdiction.
SECTION 6: That this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage,
approval and publication in pamphlet form as provided by law.
PASSED this 5th day of December , 2011.
AYES: Benton, Jester, Oppenheim, Seiden, Struthers (5)
NAYS: None (0)
ABSENT: Farkas (1)
ABSTAIN: None (0)
APPROVED this 5th
ATTEST:
�4k W
illage Jerk
day of December
2011.
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Village Pres dent