10 rules for unincorporated McHenry County, Illinois.
Verified from official government sources
McHenry County does not cap backyard chickens countywide. In unincorporated areas, keeping chickens and livestock is governed by the county Unified Development Ordinance zoning (agricultural and rural districts allow farm animals). Incorporated cities set their own limits, and Illinois right-to-farm law protects established farms.
McHenry County's Public Health Ordinance requires every dog to be restrained or controlled so it cannot run at large. Off the owner's property a dog must be on a leash held by a competent person. Loose animals are declared a public nuisance and impounded.
McHenry County Public Health Ordinance § 8.04.820
All dogs, cats and other animals kept in any area in McHenry County shall be restrained and/or controlled, as defined by this Ordinance, in such a manner as to prevent such dog, cat or other animal from running at large.
Neither McHenry County nor Illinois bans dogs by breed. Under 510 ILCS 5/15, a dog is regulated by its individual conduct — vicious dogs must be confined to an enclosure and, when out, muzzled and restrained by a 300-pound chain. The statute forbids breed-specific classification.
510 ILCS 5/15
It is unlawful for any person to keep or maintain any dog which has been found to be a vicious dog unless such dog is at all times kept in an enclosure. ... Vicious dogs shall not be classified in a manner that is specific as to breed.
McHenry County's animal-control ordinance sets no beehive rules; beekeeping is regulated statewide by the Illinois Bees and Apiaries Act (510 ILCS 20). Beekeepers must register their colonies with the Illinois Department of Agriculture within ten days of acquiring bees. Zoning may affect hives in denser districts.
Illinois' Dangerous Animals Act (720 ILCS 585) bars private residents in McHenry County from keeping big cats, bears, wolves, coyotes and life-threatening reptiles such as crocodilians and large constricting snakes. Only zoos, licensed exhibitors and similar facilities may keep them in escape-proof enclosures.
720 ILCS 585/1
No person shall have a right of property in, keep, harbor, care for, act as custodian of or maintain in his possession any dangerous animal except at a properly maintained zoological park, federally licensed exhibit, circus, scientific or educational institution, research laboratory, veterinary hospital or animal refuge in an escape-proof enclosure.
McHenry County's animal-control ordinance does not set a countywide ban on feeding wildlife such as deer or waterfowl. Animal Control only handles wild animals that are sick, injured or an immediate public-health threat. Feeding that attracts nuisance animals can still trigger the county's general nuisance rules.
Horses, cattle, goats and other livestock are allowed on agricultural and rural-residential lots in unincorporated McHenry County under the Unified Development Ordinance zoning; denser residential districts prohibit them. Established farms are shielded from nuisance suits by the Illinois Farm Nuisance Suit Act (740 ILCS 70).
Animal hoarding in McHenry County is prosecuted under the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act (510 ILCS 70). A "companion animal hoarder" keeps a large number of animals in severe overcrowding without providing adequate food, water, shelter and veterinary care. Convictions can require psychological counseling.
510 ILCS 70/2.10
"Companion animal hoarder" means a person who (i) possesses a large number of companion animals; (ii) fails to or is unable to provide what he or she is required to provide under Section 3 of this Act; (iii) keeps the companion animals in a severely overcrowded environment.
McHenry County's Public Health Ordinance sets no numeric limit on how many dogs or cats a household may keep, but every dog and cat four months or older must be registered with the county. Keeping many animals for boarding or breeding may require a kennel license.
In McHenry County cats are covered by the same animal-control ordinance as dogs: they must be restrained so they do not run at large, and every cat four months or older must be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian and registered with the county.
McHenry County Public Health Ordinance § 8.04.890
Every owner of a dog or cat four (4) months or more of age, within the County of McHenry, Illinois, shall cause such dog or cat to be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian with a prophylactic rabies vaccine approved by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
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