If you live in a village, town or city in Illinois that does not have it’s own definition of dangerous dog/animal or vicious dog/animal, then the definition set forth by the Illinois Animal Control Act, 510 ILCS 5 will apply. Let’s take a look at those two definitions.
“Potentially dangerous dog” means a dog that is unsupervised and found running at large with 3 or more other dogs.
“Vicious dog” means a dog that, without justification, attacks a person and causes serious physical injury or death or any individual dog that has been found to be a “dangerous dog” upon 3 separate occasions.
As for the vicious dog definition, a “serious physical injury” means “physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious disfigurement, protracted impairment of health, impairment of the function of any bodily organ, or plastic surgery.
Please note that these definitions may differ significantly from your town or city’s definition (for example, compare with Urbana). If you have a dangerous or vicious dog dispute then it important that you contact an animal lawyer to help you understand which statutes or code applies to your situation.
Many of us at Rincker Law, PLLC are pet owners ourselves. We love animals and want to protect them and the people who love them. We are ready to help people with animal law disputes. Cari is also a trained mediator and can mediate animal law disputes as well. We have handed dangerous dog and vicious dog disputes. I hope you will consider setting up a consultation with us to discuss your animal law matter.