Cook County, IL Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

7 sets the baseline animal-keeping rules for unincorporated Cook County: pets are capped at three adult animals per residential unit, livestock keeping requires a minimum five-acre lot, and all animals must be housed in an adequate enclosure. Subsection (G), titled Exemptions, carves veterinary clinics and animal hospitals out of that framework entirely, alongside farms, kennels, zoos and animal shelters, meaning a licensed veterinary practice is not bound by the residential three-pet ceiling or the acreage threshold that applies to a homeowner's backyard livestock. 7 makes clear that the keeping of animals remains subject to the Cook County Code of Ordinances generally, including Chapter 10 (Animals, covering rabies control and dangerous-dog rules) and Chapter 38 (Health and Human Services), and the clinic's underlying use must still be a permitted or special use in whatever zoning district it sits in, veterinary clinics and animal hospitals are typically reviewed as commercial uses under Article 5, not as an accessory 'pet' use under Article 8.

7(G) is narrowly about the numeric pet/livestock/enclosure limits Article 8 imposes on ordinary residential lots; it removes those caps for a clinic, it does not pre-clear the clinic's site plan, parking or building permit obligations, all of which the Department of Building and Zoning still reviews separately.