Tazewell County, IL Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

02(A) makes the owner of any animal responsible for keeping it "confined or under restraint at all times" whenever it is off the owner's real property; a peace officer's dog performing law-enforcement duty is the only animal exempted from the restraint itself. Division (B) narrows who else is not swept in: hunting dogs under a handler's control, dogs at a sanctioned dog show, bloodhounds tracking with police, military and police-canine-corps dogs on official business, licensed barn cat caretakers, and feral cat caretakers enrolled in a trap-neuter-vaccinate-return program.

Everyone else's dog or cat must be leashed, fenced, or otherwise physically restrained the moment it steps off the property line. 05 requires any tethered dog to have a tether at least ten feet long attached by a properly fitting collar or harness (no pinch, prong, or choke collars, no log or tow chain), constant access to water and shelter, and forbids tethering within 200 yards of a school or during heat, wind-chill, or tornado warnings. 02(D) lets the Animal Shelter Manager or delegate, the police, or a private citizen impound any animal caught running loose in the unincorporated county.

Once impounded, the animal is held until the owner pays any adjudicated fines, redemption or adoption fees, and, if the animal was not already inoculated against rabies, the shelter's inoculation and registration costs.