Village of Williamsville, IL Article III Restriction and Prohibitions

§ 115-7 Restraint of dogs and other animals.

A. The owner or keeper of a dog shall keep such dog under restraint at all times and shall not permit such animal to be at large.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person to allow any horses, cattle, swine, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese or other animals or fowl, except as otherwise provided by ordinances of the Village of Williamsville, to be at large anywhere within the Village. The herding of any animals or fowl or the tethering of animals for grazing purposes shall be deemed to be at large.

C. Any person convicted of violating this section shall be fined not less than $75 for first violation and not less than $150 for each violation thereafter.

[Amended 6-26-2006 by CY Ord. No. 2006-05]

§ 115-8 Animals as nuisances.

A. It shall be unlawful for the owner or keeper to suffer or permit any such animal by barking, howling, crying or other distressing or loud or unusual noise to disturb the peace or quiet of any place or neighborhood or family or person in the Village. The disturbing of said neighborhood or persons by any such animal is hereby declared to be a nuisance, and it shall be unlawful for any such person to suffer or permit any such nuisance to exist.

B. In addition to the general restrictions of Subsection A, for the purpose of this section, an owner or keeper is in violation of this section if he permits a dog to bark in a substantially continuous manner between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. for a period of more than 15 minutes, or who allows such animal to bark for numerous periods of time, regardless of duration, so as to disturb the quiet of the neighborhood or of particular neighbors.

C. In case any animal shall repeatedly disturb the peace or quiet of any place of neighborhood or become a nuisance as defined in this chapter, the Village may petition the Circuit Court of Sangamon County for an order to destroy said animal.

§ 115-9 Manner of keeping animals.

Any pen, stable or place in which animals are housed or kept which is unreasonably offensive to persons residing in the vicinity of the same, due to associated debris or odors, or to persons passing along any street or alley near the same, or which constitute a hazard to the health of persons residing nearby are hereby declared to be unlawful and a nuisance.

§ 115-10 Owners to prevent animals from biting.

It is unlawful for any owner or keeper of an animal to suffer, permit or fail to prevent an animal from biting or attacking a person or another animal resulting in injury to the person or animal attacked, provided that such an attack upon a person who is or reasonably appears to be in the commission of an act made punishable under the Criminal Code of the State of Illinois, is not prohibited if the animal is acting in the defense of the owner or keeper or his family or premises, and the animal remains on its premises. For purposes of this section, it is not necessary that the person bitten or attacked be arrested or convicted of a criminal offense.

§ 115-11 Confinement and warning of dangerous animals.

No person shall own, keep or harbor within the Village an animal known to be dangerous or vicious, unless such person shall keep such animal safely and securely confined so as to protect from injury any child or other person who may come upon the premises in the vicinity where such animal may be located; adequate warning by signs, or otherwise, shall be given to all persons coming upon the premises in the vicinity of any such vicious or dangerous animal.

§ 115-12 Killing animals prohibited; exceptions.

It shall be unlawful for any person to kill or wound or attempt to kill or wound by the use of firearms, sling shot, bow and arrow, BB gun, air rifle or any other dangerous weapon any animal within the Village limits, provided that this section shall not prohibit a person from defending himself or another from attack by an animal. Police officers may use weapons to destroy animals which are seriously injured to avoid unnecessary suffering or in self defense or defense of others.

§ 115-13 Cruelty to animals.

It shall be unlawful for any person to commit acts of cruelty to animals. The following acts shall be deemed to be examples of cruelty to animals and are not intended to be a complete list of acts which may constitute cruelty. Doctors of veterinary medicine, in the performance of their profession, are not subject to the provisions of this section.

A. Overloading, overdriving, overworking, beating, torturing, tormenting, mutilating or killing any animal or causing or knowingly allowing the same to be done.

B. Cruelly working any old, maimed, injured, sick or disabled animal or causing or knowingly allowing the same to be done.

C. Failing to provide any animal in one's charge or custody, as owner or keeper, with proper food, drink, shelter, air, sanitation or medical care.

D. Abandoning any animal without making provisions for its care and feeding.

§ 115-14 Cock, dog and animal fighting.

It shall be unlawful for any person to use or keep animals or be in any way connected with the management of any place kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting any dogs, cocks or other animals or permit such place to be kept or used on premises owned or controlled by such persons.

§ 115-15 Dead animals.

A. The owner or keeper of an animal shall be responsible for the disposal of such animal's remains upon its death, from whatever cause, and regardless of the location of the remains of such animals.

B. Animals remains shall be disposed of:

(1) By burial beneath at least 18 inches of compacted soil on the property of the animal's owner or keeper or any other location, with the express permission of the owner of the property; or

(2) By or through the Sangamon County Animal Pound; or

(3) By or through a licensed veterinarian; or

(4) By action of the Williamsville Police Department.

C. Police officers may issue a written notice to any owner or keeper who has failed to properly dispose of the remains of an animal as prescribed herein. Such person shall have 24 hours from receipt of such notice to properly dispose of such remains. The notice shall be served upon the violator personally or by leaving such notice at his usual place of abode with some person of the family of the age of 13 years or upwards and informing that person of the contents thereof.

D. The Village of Williamsville may dispose of any animal remains without notice to the owner or keeper when:

(1) Such remains are located on a public roadway.

(2) The remains bear no owner identification tags as required by this chapter.

(3) The remains are located on the property of a person other than the owner or keeper.

(4) Service of a notice upon the owner or keeper is refused or not readily possible within a short time.

E. In any case where a disposal notice is required in accordance with Subsection C above, upon failure of a person served a notice to properly dispose of such remains within the time allowed, the remains may be disposed of by employees of the Village of Williamsville, and all costs of such removal shall be paid by the owner or keeper of the dead animal to the Village of Williamsville.

F. A minimum charge of $50 for each hour or part of an hour spent by Police officers or other Village employees in disposing of the remains shall be levied against the owner or keeper when the Village of Williamsville disposes of the remains. The Village's Counsel is hereby authorized to institute legal proceedings to collect any amount owing by the owner or keeper, provided that such suit is filed within two years of the issuance of the notice or disposal of the remains if no notice is required.

§ 115-16 Injured or dead animals found on public ways.

A. Any animal discovered injured or dead on a public way of this Village shall be impounded or picked up by the Village of Williamsville Police Department.

B. Seriously injured animals which are wearing owner identification tags will be taken to a doctor of veterinary medicine, who shall contact the owner for treatment instructions and who shall maintain the animal, painlessly, if possible, until instructions are received. The owner or keeper shall be responsible for the costs of the impoundment and treatment.

C. Seriously injured animals which do not bear owner identification tags shall be impounded and euthanized forthwith by a doctor of veterinary medicine to avoid unnecessary suffering to the animal.

D. Injured animals wearing owner identification tags shall be released to the pound within 48 hours if the owner cannot be contacted and treatment is completed, or if the animal requires treatment beyond treatment to minimize suffering or pain, such treatment may be provided at the owner's or keeper's expense.

E. No animal will be released by a veterinarian from impoundment to the owner or keeper following treatment of an injury until a release is received from the Village of Williamsville showing payment of impoundment fees.

§ 115-17 Interference with enforcement; penalty. [1]

It shall be unlawful for any person to, in any way, interfere with any person who is known to such person to be or who identifies himself or herself to be and is in fact a Village or county employee or officer enforcing the provisions of this chapter or engaged in catching or impounding any animal under the authority of this chapter. Any person convicted of a violation of the provisions of this section will be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500.

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).