Illinois Is A Dog State, But…How Many Can You Legally Have?

Maybe a better question should be "How much poop are you willing to pick up," or "Just how much chaos can one household handle?" We have two dogs at our house and believe me, I've hit my pocketful-of-poop-bags limit and have had more than enough chaotic events to tide me over for a good long while, so I won't be adding more to the mix right now.

The reason I'm asking this question is because I read an article about a man in India who just happens to share his food and living space with 730-plus dogs. It's okay, he lives on a farm (because that many hounds in an apartment would just be weird).

Knowing how my two dogs greet any family member who comes through the door as though that person has been gone for years (even when it's been 5 minutes), I'm somewhat surprised that this man, from the southern Indian state of Karnataka, hasn't been greeted completely to death by now.

Dog Ownership Is Similar To Driving Speeds--Anyone Who Does More Than You Is A Maniac

So, here's the thing about how many dogs (or cats, as they're both what's called "companion animals") you can legally have in your household: it varies depending on where you call home in Illinois.

(You may recall a few months back when a Rockford alderman proposed a 3-dog limit in Rockford for safety reasons)

Several Sites I Visited Showed The Number As Being Six Dogs, But....

In some other places the statutes said "6 dogs and 6 cats." There have been attempts by different municipalities across the country to enact a two-dog limit, but from what I've been able to gather, those attempts were shot down by citizenry and the local city councils.

LakeCountyIL.gov:

Dogs, cats - maximum number allowed: A maximum of four dogs and four cats of an age greater than six months may be owned, kept, or harbored in an individual residence. For the purposes of this section, an individual residence includes both single family dwellings and each individual dwelling unit within multi-unit housing structures. Owners and/or landlords of multiunit housing structures, condominium associations, or other such authorities, however, may further limit the number of animals in said structures and/or units.

It seems that the bottom line here is that you can have a bunch of dogs, providing you're caring for them properly and not pissing off your neighbors--but landlords can set the pet limit at whatever number they choose, including zero.

Oh, One More Note About Dogs

Have you heard about "pet leasing?" A Massachusetts company is in some hot water over the practice--which, until recently, was something none of us around here had ever heard of. It sounds like an awful practice that's on its way out, thankfully. Check this out: