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

Sec. 4-2(a) requires the owner of any animal to keep it confined or under restraint whenever it is off the owner's real property, with a single exception for law-enforcement dogs actively working under an officer's control. "Restraint," defined in Sec. 4-1, means the animal is controlled by a line or leash no more than six feet long held by a person 11 or older capable of commanding it, or a leash up to 50 feet during an active training session, or confined inside a vehicle or carrier.

" Sec. 4-2(b) escalates the penalty each time within a rolling 12-month window: $50 for a first violation, $150 for a second, and $300 for the third and every one after that. The settlement option under Sec. 4-28, which normally lets an owner pay a lower administrative fee instead of going through the full citation process, is unavailable starting with the second violation in that 12-month period, pushing repeat offenders straight into the standard fine track. Separately, Sec. 4-24 allows the animal shelter manager, the police, or a private citizen to physically impound any animal found running at large or straying, and the animal is only released after the owner pays any adjudicated fines plus redemption fees and, if unvaccinated, the cost of rabies inoculation and registration the shelter incurs.