East Dundee makes room for additional pets
There were no letters of support from the mail carrier, or heartfelt statements from family pets facing eviction, yet East Dundee trustees this week tweaked their pet ordinance to allow residents to own additional animals under certain circumstances.
The board voted unanimously on Monday to add language to the code allowing for a fourth dog or fourth cat, as long as the animal is from a rescue shelter. Pet owners must provide the village with documentation within 15 days of adopting the animal.
Previously, the village code limited the number of pets to four animals with no more than three dogs or three cats.
"What it came down to is that the board was not comfortable with just changing the ordinance to increase the number of pets," Village President Dan O'Leary said. "This language allows for those rare circumstances where people receive a pet from a rescue place. We can accommodate those residents without increasing the number of pets."
Debra Freese and her husband, Ken Yokers, are two residents who will benefit from the changes. The pair approached the village board earlier this month when they learned of the pet limitation that would prevent them from adopting a fourth dog.
"I am very happy with the decision," Freese said. "I appreciate it. I didn't expect them to change the ordinance, but I was hoping they would."
Freese and Yokers want to adopt a collie to add to their brood of three dogs - a beagle mix and two Pomeranians.
Despite initial opposition to changes, Trustee Jeff Lynam on Monday voted to approve the new language.
"Ultimately it is a good compromise," Lynam said. "My original point was that if we customized an ordinance for a few that we needed to be careful because we could open the possibility for future requests to do the same. That's a dangerous road. We are a municipality, not a country club, and we have to be careful how we structure ordinances or amend them."