'Horrific afternoon' prompts Rockford to consider new limits on dogs

Ald. Mark Bonne, D-14, is proposing a new limit on the number of dogs Rockford residents can keep per household and other measures to keep the animals and neighborhoods safe in the wake of a terrible October dog attack in his ward.

When the owners of four pit bulls on Winnetka Drive went away for a long weekend, they left the animals unattended at home. Two of the dogs turned on another and mauled it to death, said Bonne and Joel Peltz, a neighbor who witnessed the incident.

Someone who has owned dogs for much of his life, it was a disturbing scene Peltz said he will never forget.

"It was a horrific afternoon, no doubt about that," said Peltz who had already tried calling Winnebago County Animal Services earlier in the day because of incessant barking. "The dogs are suddenly — they're fighting all morning, so I grab a ladder and act as if I was, you know, cleaning out my gutters or whatever. And I look over and two dogs were literally shredding another dog."

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Peltz called 911, but emergency dispatchers referred him back to Animal Services. When they finally responded, the dog was already dead. Although the deceased animal was removed from the yard, the other dogs — who are kept outside in the fenced backyard — were left at the residence as they had remained confined and on private property during the incident, Peltz said.

An ordinance that Bonne is proposing is meant to make Rockford's laws regulating dogs easier for Winnebago County Animal Services to enforce. It could be considered in committee Monday night.

It would reduce the city's limit on the number of dogs allowed per household from four down to three. Households that currently have four legally registered dogs would be grandfathered in and allowed to keep the fourth dog until it dies but not allowed to replace it.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit allowing dogs to be kept outside overnight unattended; require dogs to be leashed while in public; prohibit allowing waste to collect and create unsanitary, dangerous or offensive conditions; and require owners to properly and safely confine and fence their pets, prohibiting them from allowing dogs to run at large.

Fines could range from $100 for a first offense to $250 for subsequent offenses.

Bonne said the reduction to three dogs would match what is currently in place in Roscoe and be one more than the two-dog limit in Loves Park and Machesney Park.

Aurora and Joliet also limit households to two dogs, and Naperville limits residents to a maximum of three dogs.

Bonne said that locales that have stricter limits have recognized that city lots on average are too small for more than three dogs. Bonne argues that more dogs risks more unruly behavior, more barking and more chances that a dog will get loose.

"All of the changes being proposed work to improve quality of life and help shift the burden of compliance from neighbors to the pet owners themselves," Bonne said. "But the most important reason is to potentially save a human life. The pit bulls that mauled one of their own to death in my neighborhood easily could have turned instead on a child or even an adult. I talked to the mom of a 10-year-old who was in tears after witnessing the brutal attack and an elderly widow who was afraid to work in her yard.

"I don't think we should allow four, powerful and menacing animals to be confined in a 50-by-50-foot backyard. Three dogs on a city lot are less likely a recipe for trouble than four, and our neighbors to the north have figured that out."

Freeport, Belvidere and Peoria each have a limit of four dogs, the same as Rockford's current limit.

Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said he supports much of what is in the proposed ordinance that Bonne has crafted with the help of the city legal department.

But he doesn't necessarily see how the stricter limit would improve safety and said he is not in favor of it.

"Making sure that dogs are kept in clean and sanitary conditions," McNamara said, "making sure that they are appropriately fenced — I think when you look at a lot of the aspects that they're putting into it, it's things to make sure that these animals are protected as well as the neighborhood. Those type of conditions, I'm highly supportive of."

Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at  (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford could consider new dog regulations after 'horrific' incident