Homer Glen trustees this week adopted an amendment banning dogs that are considered vicious.
The amendment, to an ordinance regulating control of animals, was approved unanimously Tuesday with two trustees absent.
The amendment defines what dangerous and vicious dogs are and establishes a group to evaluate whether a dog is dangerous or vicious, but does not regulate breeds, said Trustee George Yukich, co-chairman of the Public Services and Safety Committee. The group will include a Homer Glen compliance officer, a Will County police officer and a Will County Animal Control officer, Yukich said. The village hopes to add a veterinarian to the group.
A dog is deemed vicious when there is an “unprovoked attack,” and while the vicious dog does not have to be euthanized, it is banned from Homer Glen, Yukich said.
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A dog is deemed dangerous for a lesser offense, such as running unprovoked at someone in a threatening way, Yukich said. Three mishaps are allowed under the amendment before a dangerous dog is deemed vicious, he said.
“We don’t want to take anyone’s pet away from them,” Yukich said. “All we’re trying to do is protect the residents and protect the pets.”
Prior to approval of the amendment, any dog that had attacked a person or another animal would be returned to its owners after it was checked for rabies by Will County Animal Control, which Homer Glen uses because it does not have its own animal control department, Yukich said.
Three residents spoke on the topic during the public comment portion of the meeting.
“My pet doesn’t live in a safe community,” Roselyn Zambuto said.
Zambuto said in an interview that her silky terrier has been attacked twice by a pit bull. One other resident spoke in favor of the amendment while another spoke against it.
The amendment was suggested by Homer Glen resident Kathy Schubert, who said at a June 4 public safety committee meeting that she was bitten and her dog attacked by a neighbor’s unleashed dog.
The dog that attacked had been wandering unleashed while Schubert’s neighbors were out of town, because a door had been left open by one of the neighbor’s children, Schubert said.
Her dog, which died, had been attacked previously by another dog owned by the same neighbors, she said.
The dog that bit Schubert and attacked her dog was returned to its owners because Homer Glen did not have an ordinance at the time prohibiting dangerous and vicious dogs, Yukich said. Village officials are investigating what should happen regarding that dog, he said.
About 60 residents signed a petition in favor of the amendment, Yukich said earlier this year.
“A fair amount of due diligence (was needed) … to make sure what we’re proposing is legal,” Mayor Jim Daley said at Tuesday’s Village Board meeting, explaining the time it took to implement the legislation.
The village also has a leash law, which was in place prior to Tuesday, Yukich said.
“Anytime they’re off your property, they have to be leashed,” he said.
If a dog is not leashed, it must be fenced in, he said.