Ald. Mark Bonne, D-14, on Monday rescinded his effort to restrict the variety of dogs allowed in Rockford households and maintain the established order at 4 animals.
Bonne mentioned final week’s mass stabbing that left 4 individuals lifeless and 7 wounded was in the identical neighborhood of a horrific canine attack in October. In that fall incident, two of 4 pit bulls at a family ganged up on and killed one other of the dogs, traumatizing neighbors and prompting Bonne to take a tough take a look at Rockford’s canine insurance policies.
“The timing is unsuitable,” Bonne mentioned. “This is an emotional subject. It grew out of a brutal incident again in October. It occurred in the exact same neighborhood the place we at the moment are mourning the lack of 4 human lives. I simply do not feel the necessity to have this debate tonight.”
More: Rockford leaders ask: How many dogs is simply too many?
Although no additional canine limitation was applied, different points of the reforms have been adopted on a 12-0 vote.
Those embody shifting a lot of Rockford’s canine rules out of its zoning legal guidelines and into its code of ordinances, permitting Winnebago County Animal Services to implement them, Bonne mentioned.
The reforms require satisfactory and secure fencing to maintain dogs from operating giant; prohibit leaving dogs exterior unattended in a single day for longer than 20 minutes; and prohibit permitting waste to gather and create unsanitary, harmful or offensive circumstances.
Bonne’s proposal to restrict households to a few dogs from the present 4 animal restrict sparked objections from activists who frightened that it may result in an elevated variety of pets being euthanized. Bonne then provided a compromise that was designed to advertise canine adoption by permitting a fourth canine if it was adopted or fostered from a shelter, however that, too, was met with objections.
Jeff Kolkey writes about authorities, financial improvement and different points for the Rockford Register Star. He may be reached at (815) 987-1374, by way of e-mail at [email protected] and on X @jeffkolkey.
