Cicero, IL Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Sec. ' The section does not leave the category open-ended; it names specific animals covered, 'including but not limited to,' baboons, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, bears, cheetahs, lions, tigers, alligators or crocodiles longer than 12 inches, snakes, coyotes, hyenas, jaguars, leopards, lynxes, ocelots, margays, raccoons, or wolves. The only exemption written into the section is for a duly licensed circus or animal exposition, so a resident cannot rely on that carve-out to keep any of these animals as a household pet. Subsection (b) separately bans letting any dangerous animal run at large in Town, and specifies that neither chaining nor muzzling the animal is a defense: an owner who lets a listed animal loose, secured or not, is still in violation.

Subsection (c) gives Cicero police officers direct authority to kill any animal on the spot when doing so is necessary to protect people or property, without a separate court order. The section traces to a 1917 ordinance, was codified at Code 1958 § 6-4, and was last amended by Ord. No. 259-03 in January 2004.