We have all heard the horror stories about hoarding and the Illinois legislature would like to put a stop to it; however, requiring a permit and monitoring those that have 7 or more pets is the wrong approach. Not only do I consider the specific number to be low and arbitrary, hoarders were already breaking the law by allowing overcrowding and mistreatment of animals. The underlying reason for hoarding is most often the lack of spay/neuter for the animals; legislation should to focus on spay/nueter education and distributing information on locations that offer low-cost services. In fact, residents may not spay/neuter their 7th animal for fear of being reported, having to pay the permit fee and being under scrutiny as a possible hoarder.  

HB 1166 would be an amendment to Section 3 of the Illinois Animal Control Act. The amendment, introduced on February 8, 2011 by Representative Patrick J. Verschoore, would require a permit for having 7 or more companion animals (socialized cats and dogs, ferals excluded). Anyone caught with more than 6 cats or dogs would be charged with a Class B misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class 4 felony for the second offense with every day counting as a separate offense. It would also change the wording of the Humane Care for Animals Act so that the definition of Companion Animal Hoarder would change from "a large number" of animals to specifically 7 or more.

There is no maximum number of cats or dogs that everyone is capable of caring for; it may be 1 for someone and 30 for someone else. Having a large number of pets does not make a hoarder, as long as they are all spayed and neutered, healthy and clean. HB 1166 victimizes those of us capable of caring for a larger number of pets by imposing permit requirements; it is also insulting to be placed in a category with those that would allow starvation and disease among the animals they should be caring for.