Rockford Alderman Wants To Limit Dog Ownership In Rockford To 3

In the interests of full disclosure, I have to point out that in our household, we have a grand total of 3 pets. Two dogs, one cat. For us, that number works just fine from a budgetary and sanity viewpoint, but I'd be lying if I said that we couldn't be talked into at least one more dog at some point.

However, if a proposed Rockford city ordinance ever comes to pass, we would have the option to add just one more dog to our current dog-dog-cat pet roster and then have to stop because Rockford residents would be limited to owning up to 3 dogs, period.

Rockford's 14th Ward Alderman, Mark Bonne, Has Proposed The 3 Dog Limit Ordinance With The Hope Of Making Rockford Streets Safer

Alderman Bonne has also proposed making 20 minutes the limit for leaving a dog unattended between the hours of 10pm and 7am, which would come as a pretty big relief to those of us who have neighbors that frequently leave barking dogs out all night.

For those who have more than 3 dogs, you would be "grandfathered" in on the ordinance (assuming that it's ever voted on and passed), meaning you can keep the dogs you already have.

WIFR.com:

These changes, Bonne hopes, would modernize Rockford ordinances to be more like surrounding cities that already have stricter limitations in place.

“Improve quality of life, animal welfare and actually guard against the chance that a situation like what happened in my ward, that there would be a human life lost because of a situation like that,” Bonne says, referring to an incident last year where a dog in Rockford’s 14th Ward lost its life.

This Proposed Ordinance Has Not Become The Law Yet, And The Rockford City Council's Code And Regulation Committee Voted To Lay Over Any Further Action On It

For now, it's not something that multiple-dog owners are going to have to worry about, but it could happen down the road.

As far as this proposed ordinance to bring Rockford in line with other area municipalities, here are some other local towns and their rules:

The state of Illinois has no statewide limit on pets per household, but differing municipalities can and do have their own rules

City of Loves Park: "City Ordinance allows three pets per residence, with only 2 pets of the same species. This means you may have 2 dogs and 1 cat, but not 3 dogs. Small pets such as fish are excluded from this."

Village Of Machesney Park: "Each household is permitted to have a maximum of three (3) dogs in Machesney Park."

Village Of Roscoe: "There shall be a maximum limitation per household or building located within the village of three domestic animals, excepting households previously lawful on the effective date of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived; provided, however, that any newborn domestic animals born from the same litter shall be allowed to remain in the household despite the limitation of this section for up to four months from the date of birth. The code enforcement officer may impound immediately every animal exceeding the limit per household. This section does not apply to feral cats being cared for by a caretaker of feral cats registered as required in section 3-127."

Village Of Rockton: "No person within the village unless otherwise licensed by the State of Illinois for such purposes, shall own, harbor or otherwise, keep and care for more than five domestic animals within one residence."