McLean County, IL Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Chapter 165 of the McLean County Code makes registration mandatory for every cat over four months old. Section 165-4 states that every person residing in McLean County who owns a dog or cat shall register it with the County of McLean, with the fee set in Section 205-32 and a $1 discount available at approved rabies vaccination clinics. New residents get 30 days to register after arriving in the county, and if ownership of a cat changes hands the new owner has 30 days to register anew, though no second fee applies if the cat was already registered that calendar year.

Owners must keep the county rabies registration tag on the cat, or carry proof of vaccination and registration, and produce it on demand to Animal Control personnel or any Illinois law enforcement officer. If proof is not displayed or in hand, the officer may summarily seize and impound the cat as a public nuisance; an unclaimed cat becomes county property after seven business days, not counting the day of seizure. Section 165-1 defines a feral cat as one born in the wild, the abandoned offspring of an owned or feral cat, or a cat living on a farm that is not socialized; once it is socialized and living in a home it reverts to being a regular domesticated cat under the code.

Section 165-5 excuses a feral cat caretaker participating in an approved trap, spay/neuter, return or release program from both the registration fee and from being treated as an owner under Section 165-1, so colony caretakers are not on the hook for registering the cats they feed and manage.