The Evanston City Council passed an ordinance to increase restrictions on potentially dangerous pets at their meeting Tuesday night.
The ordinance, which amends the portion of the city code governing “dogs, cats, animals and fowl,” requires all “dangerous” dogs be spayed or neutered and equipped with an identifying microchip. The new code also states that any structure built to hold a dangerous animal must have a concrete floor and its owners must insure it for $100,000. The policy must be separate from the owners’ homeowners insurance.
The animal ordinance passed 8-1, with Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) opposing. He said he was not necessarily against regulating vicious dogs but thought the city’s definition of “vicious” – a dog proven to attack humans unprovoked or that is trained as an attack dog or dogfighter – was too broad. While city code uses the term “dangerous” to refer to the animals in question, many attendees mistakenly discussed usage of the term “vicious.”
“There is subjectivity to the question of whether a dog is reacting to an attack,” he said. “Sometimes people take the outlook that dogs are bad or something.”
The new ordinance did not change the definition of a dangerous dog, but Moran said he opposed it because “these amendments referenced the definition.”
The council also changed city code to comply with a state law that requires a ten-day confinement at a veterinarian’s office for any animal without current rabies shots.
At the Planning and Development Committee meeting, a consultant gave aldermen a briefing on a new way for the city to gain revenue.
The presentation, given by Julie Herlands of the TischlerBise consulting firm, outlined “impact fees,” charges that could potentially be assessed to future developers for park, library and water utility services.
While aldermen said they thought the policy could earn the city some money, some expressed a concern that it would discourage future development.
Aldermen eventually agreed to look deeper into the issue in future meetings, to see if the policy can be used in Evanston.
“I see some real potential, but I also see some complications with it,” Moran said. “I’d like to see the discussion continue, obviously with tailoring it to our local circumstances here.”
