Peoria, IL Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Sec. 4-63 singles out female cats and dogs in heat for a confinement duty beyond the general at-large rule: the owner must keep her in a building or secure enclosure, and failing to do so is a violation of law that lets the animal shelter manager or delegate impound the animal and hold her until she's redeemed or adopted under the shelter's normal procedures. Because Peoria's code treats cats and dogs together throughout Article II, cats otherwise follow the same registration duties as dogs. Sec.

4-51(a) requires every cat over four months old to be inoculated against rabies as required by the code of Peoria County, and that duty applies regardless of whether the cat is confined indoors at all times, an indoor-only cat gets no exemption. An unvaccinated cat can be impounded under Sec. 4-51(b) and redeemed only after the shelter's requirements are met. Sec. 4-52 separately requires the rabies certificate to be registered with the county rabies control program administrator, and Sec. 4-53 requires any cat outside a secure enclosure to wear a collar strong enough to restrain it, with the county registration tag attached under Sec.

4-54. Read together, these sections give Peoria's cats three concrete duties distinct from dogs' leash rules: confinement during heat cycles under Sec. 4-63, mandatory rabies registration regardless of indoor status under Sec. 4-51, and a collar with attached tag whenever the cat is outside a secure enclosure under Sec. 4-53 and 4-54.