Joliet, IL Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

City Code Sec. 6-22 prohibits any person from causing or permitting a dog they own or keep to run at large within Joliet. The section defines 'at large' broadly: any dog found on a public street, sidewalk, alley, parkway, or other unenclosed place is deemed at large unless it is firmly held on a leash or riding in an enclosed vehicle. A companion provision, Sec. 6-21, separately requires every dog on a public street, sidewalk or alley to wear a collar with a current-year license tag attached.

Sec. 6-22 also imposes an escalating consequence: if a dog is found running at large a second or subsequent time, it must be sterilized within thirty days of being reclaimed unless it is already sterilized, and failure to comply within that window results in impoundment, sterilization at the city's direction, and a bill to the owner for the sterilization cost. Under the companion impoundment section, Sec. 6-23, a dog picked up running at large is held for seven business days, including the pickup day, while the city attempts to contact the owner by mail, phone or other reasonable means; an unclaimed dog becomes available for adoption, transfer to a rescue, or euthanasia on the morning of the eighth day.

To redeem an impounded dog under Sec. 6-24, the owner must appear during regular business hours, prove ownership, show rabies inoculation (or pay for one on the spot), have the dog microchipped at the owner's expense if it is not already, and pay all applicable fees. The current leash text traces to Ord. No. 4185, § 3, with the sterilization-on-second-offense language added by Ord. No. 18421, § 2, effective November 1, 2022.