For the purpose of this Chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ADMINISTRATOR
Means a veterinarian licensed by the State and appointed to direct the County Animal Control Department and to carry out the provisions of this Chapter and State statutes appertaining hereto. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.10)
ANIMAL
Means any non-human, animate being which is endowed with the power of voluntary motion, especially those animals whose females nurse their young (mammals). (See 510 ILCS 5/2.02)
ANIMAL CONTROL WARDEN
Means any person employed by the County and approved by the Board to perform duties as assigned by the Administrator or Sheriff to effectuate this Chapter. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.03)
BOARD
Means the County Board of Monroe County. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.04)
CAT
Means all members of the family Feline.
CONFINED
Means the restriction of an animal at all times by the owner, or his agent, to an escape-proof building or other enclosure away from other animals and the public. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.05)
CONFINED UNDER THE OBSERVATION OF A LICENSED VETERINARIAN
Confined to an escape proof building or other enclosure away from other animals and the public and observed daily by the Administrator or another licensed veterinarian.
DANGEROUS DOG
Means any individual dog which when either unmuzzled, unleashed, or unattended by its owner, or a member of its owner’s family, in a vicious or terrorizing manner, approaches any person in an apparent attitude of attack upon streets, sidewalks, or any public grounds or places. (See 510 ILCS 5/15(2))
DEPARTMENT
Means the Department of Agriculture of the State. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.06)
DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR
A veterinarian licensed by the State, appointed by the Administrator, and approved by the Board.
DIRECTOR
Means the Director of the Department of Agriculture of the State, or his duly appointed representative. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.08)
DIVISION
The Division of Animal Industries of the State Department of Agriculture.
DOG
Means all members of the family Canidae. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.11)
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS
Those animals that are tame and who live in or near the habitations of man or by habit or special training in association with man.
ESCAPE PROOF BUILDING OR OTHER ENCLOSURE
A building or other enclosure of such strength and structure to keep a confined animal away from other animals and the public.
FUR BEARING ANIMALS
Any of the following species: badger, beaver, bobcat, coyote, gray fox, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, red fox, river otter, striped skunk, weasel, woodchuck, wolf, or any other wild animals for which the rabies incubation period is unknown.
HAS BEEN 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. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.12)
HUMANELY DISPATCHED
The painless administration of a lethal dose of an agent which shall cause the death of an animal as prescribed in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, July 1, 1978. Said method shall not destroy brain tissue necessary for laboratory examination for rabies. Animals shall be handled prior to administration of the agent in such a manner as to avoid undue apprehension by the animal.
IN HEAT
Showing signs of estrus – a regularly occurring period of sexual excitability in female members of the Canidae and Feline families.
INOCULATION AGAINST RABIES
Means the injection of an anti-rabies vaccine approved by the Department. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.13)
LEASH
Means a cord, rope, strap, or chain which shall be of sufficient strength to keep such dog or other animal under control. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.14)
LICENSED VETERINARIAN
Means a veterinarian licensed by the State in which he engages in the practice of veterinary medicine. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.15)
NON-DOMESTIC ANIMALS
(Including but not limited to) lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, cheetah, margay, mountain lion, Canada lynx, bobcat, jaguarondi, hyena or coyote, bear, wolf or any poisonous reptile or constrictors.
OFFICIAL HEALTH CERTIFICATE
A legible record, made on an official form of the state of origin, or the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and issued by a licensed veterinarian of the state of origin, a veterinarian in the employ of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or a veterinarian in the employ of the U.S. Armed Services, which shows that the dog(s) or cat(s) listed thereon meet the health requirements of the State. The official health certificate shall contain the name and address of the consignor; the name and address of the consignee; an accurate description or identification including age, sex and breed of the dog(s) involved; and shall also indicate the health status of the dog(s), including the date(s) of vaccination(s), type of vaccine, name of manufacturer, serial number, and amount of vaccine administered.
OFFICIALLY VACCINATED
The inoculation of a dog or cat with a vaccine, administered by a licensed veterinarian by the route and in the amount recommended by the producer of the vaccine and for which a county rabies vaccination tag has been issued and properly recorded on a certificate as prescribed by the Board.
OWNER
Means any person having the right of property in a dog, cat or other animal, or who keeps or harbors a dog, cat or other animal, or who has it in his/her care, or acts as its custodian, or who knowingly permits a dog, cat or other domestic animal to remain on or about any premise occupied by him or her. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.16)
PERSON
Means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, society, association or other legal entity, any public or private institution, the State of Illinois, municipal corporation or political subdivision of the State, or any other business unit. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.17)
POUND
Means any facility approved by the Administrator for the purpose of enforcing this Code and used as a shelter for seized, stray, homeless, abandoned, or unwanted dogs, cats or other animals. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.18)
PROGRAM
The Animal Control Program of the County.
RECOGNIZED LABORATORY
A laboratory operated by the state Department of Agriculture, the state Department of Public Health, any land grant university, or other laboratories approved by the Department of Public Health.
REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE
Means a printed form prescribed by the Department for the purpose of recording pertinent information as required by the Department under this Code. (See 510 ILCS 5/2.19)
STRAY
An animal, usually domesticated, for which there is not an owner or apparent owner.
STRAYING
A dog, cat, or other animal not on the premises of the owner or not confined or under control by leash or other recognized control methods.
WILD ANIMAL
An animal which still retains its wild nature and whose habitat is generally the woods and which is untamed and undomesticated, including, but not limited to, a wolf, coyote, or the offspring of a mating between a wolf or coyote and a dog, including fur-bearing mammals.
The County Board and the Administrator shall create an Animal Control Program pursuant to the Illinois Animal Control Act, 510 ILCS 5/1 et seq.