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namtrah · Mar 5, 2009, 05:39 AM

Can a dog or cat be owned or living in same household by a convicted felon. If not who can I contact The dog is vicious also.

excon · Mar 5, 2009, 05:42 AM

Hello n:

I've never heard of a law that prevented felons from owning pets...

I cannot imagine where you came up with that. But, that's why I like it around here so. You really run into some interesting stuff.

excon

shazamataz · Mar 5, 2009, 06:05 AM

Unless their conviction was an animal cruelty charge there is no reason why a convicted felon couldn't own a dog. In some prisons they actually have programs where prisoners look after dogs.

excon · Mar 5, 2009, 06:19 AM

Hello again,

I'm sorry. Even if somebody was convicted of harming animals, there is still NO law, anywhere in this country, that prevents him from owning pets in the future.

If he's under court supervision, he may be precluded from owning pets during THAT period... But, that's all.

I will add (because I missed it before), owning a vicious pet IS against the law, even if you've never been convicted of anything.

You can certainly call animal control about the vicious dog, and I would.

excon

shazamataz · Mar 5, 2009, 06:26 AM

Depends on your classification of "vicious" Do you actually know the dog or is it a neighbour? My dogs all go mental, barking like mad whenever someone walks past the gate but if someone comes inside they won't stop licking them!

And yes excon you are completely right, there is no law that states they can never own a dog but there is usually a time frame in which they aren't allowed to. (eg: a guy beats his dog and gets fined $1000 and is not allowed to own a dog for 1 year)

namtrah · Mar 5, 2009, 11:01 AM

Hi and thank you for responding. I did some searching and yes there are laws, House Bill 2946. IL January 1, 2007. As far as vicious, how many family members does a dog need to bite before it is called vicious? I provided a link below to read about the bill.

CPY Document

shazamataz · Mar 5, 2009, 11:23 AM

Well that's a pretty strange law... what does owning a gun or drugs have to do with owning a dog?

And yes you should contact animal control about the dog if it is actually attacking people.

carolbcac · Mar 5, 2009, 08:18 PM

Sounds like this is an Illinois state law. It is sort of awkward and not sure how they enforce it. Seems to be aimed at violent offenders, which makes sense. The gun part may have to do with the association of dogs used to guard Meth labs, drug houses, etc, or in dogfighting situations. Aren't convicted felons prohibited from owning guns anyway?