Waukegan, IL Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 4-5 sets a flat combined cap: no person may own or harbor more than three cats or dogs of licensing age at any one time in any one place in the city, counting dogs and cats together rather than three of each. The limit applies per household or premises, so a family with two dogs and two cats already exceeds it without written permission. That permission comes only from the chief of police or his or her designee, and the ordinance requires the request to be filed with that office, meaning there's no automatic multi-pet permit and no set fee schedule in the text itself; approval is left to the chief's discretion.

Because Sec. 4-5 sits in the same chapter as the general animal-control penalty provision, Sec. 4-19, a violation is treated as a civil offense enforced by the city police animal control, with citations issued by a police officer or animal control officer based on probable cause. The section doesn't distinguish between animals born on the property, such as an unplanned litter, and animals acquired from elsewhere, so a household whose cat has kittens can find itself over the three-animal limit and needing the chief's written sign-off to keep them past licensing age.