Joliet, IL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

City Code Sec. 6-10(c) makes it unlawful to own, harbor or keep any farm animal within Joliet, defining farm animals to include horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine (including potbellied pigs) and fowl such as turkeys, geese, chickens and ducks. 9(c) of the City of Joliet zoning ordinance, meaning ordinary residential and most suburban lots do not qualify. The section carves out one exception for potbellied pigs, capped at one per residence: the pig must be spayed or neutered, a male's tusks must be clipped and trimmed, and the animal must be confined to a fenced yard at least four feet high whenever outdoors and unsupervised.

If taken onto a public street, sidewalk or alley, the pig must be under the control of an adult at least eighteen years old and restrained by a harness and leash no longer than six feet. Owners must remove excreta to prevent nuisance conditions and must provide annual erysipelas vaccination plus a veterinary certificate confirming the animal is in fact a potbellied pig, both to be produced to an animal control officer or city official on request. Zoological parks, temporary animal exhibitions and circuses are expressly excluded from the section's reach. The current text was adopted by Ord. No. 17547, § 2, on December 6, 2016.