S. Elgin close to setting pet limit

Pet owners in South Elgin will soon be limited to having only four animals — whether they are dogs, cats or a combination of the two.

The village board discussed Tuesday night how to cap the maximum number of pets allowed in households. The village code already restricts the number of dogs to four, but recent cases involving unsanitary conditions with dozens of cats prompted Police Chief Christopher Merritt to recommend including those pets as well.

Merritt said he found out in conversations with people from a local animal shelter that cat hoarding is becoming more of a problem.

“Our ordinance has always worked up until this point,” Merritt said, “but I believe we should start to limit the number of domesticated animals.”

Most board members agreed four animals was plenty, or even too many, but Trustee Scott Richmond spoke up about pushing the number a little higher.

Ultimately, though, village officials will finalize an ordinance for the board to vote on at its next meeting. The ordinance would keep four animals as the limit, with a provision exempting kittens and puppies until they are 6 months old.

Merritt said village officials looked into how similarly sized communities limited household pets and found four to be a common number. No neighboring communities factored into this decision.

Enforcement will be strictly complaint-based, Merritt said. The main goal of the amendment is to give the police department an avenue to expedite a court order process when problems do arise.

The amendment will also include a new section about rabies, requiring pet owners to maintain proper vaccinations for their animals. Previously the village had to rely on Kane County for enforcing vaccine violations, but the new ordinance will give South Elgin police equal jurisdiction.

The next board meeting will be held immediately after the committee of the whole meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. March 7 at village hall, 10 N. Water St., in South Elgin. If approved, the revised provisions will take effect immediately and apply to all future pet owners.