Waukegan, IL Animal Ordinances: Pet Store Rules (2026)

Sec. 4-68(a) makes it unlawful for any pet trader to sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction or otherwise transfer a dog or cat in the city for consideration other than nominal consideration, closing off the typical commercial pet-store sales model. The exemptions in subsection (b) are narrow: a breeder already licensed under Sec. 4-67 may sell animals it bred and reared on its own premises, a municipal or governmental animal control facility or shelter may transfer animals, and a duly incorporated nonprofit humane society or animal rescue organization devoted to rescuing, caring for and adopting out stray, abandoned or surrendered animals is exempt as long as it does not breed animals.

Subsection (c) affirms that a pet store may still host a public animal control agency, humane society or rescue group on-site so their animals can be adopted through the store, so the ban targets commercial sourcing, not adoption partnerships. Any licensed breeder relying on the Sec. 4-67 exemption must also comply with that section's one-litter-per-term limit, health-certification and microchip requirements before a sale can occur, so a breeder that skips those steps loses the exemption and falls back under the Sec. 4-68 prohibition.