WEIRD LAW ALERT: Illegal for Dogs to Bark 15 Minutes;
also, No More Monkeys in the Supermarket

Saturday, May 26, 2001 - USA

NORTHBROOK, IL — Everybody, go out and buy a stopwatch, and for heaven's sake, leave the monkey at home, this time.  There's a new law in town.

Northbrook (just on the outskirts of Chicago) has just approved a revision of the animal code which specifies that it is now against the law for your dog to bark for more than 15 minutes.

Other regulations include making it illegal to feed wild cats, illegal to  keep homing pigeons (gotta crack down on international espionage, you know) and illegal to take certain animals out of the house without an escape-proof cage.

Posing for the camera above is Max, an adoptable dog from the Animal Care League in Illinois, who barked for just under 8 seconds.  Ok, Max, you can stay.

Among the unhappy targets of the new restriction is "Edgar", a pet monkey who frequently dresses in baby clothes and gym sneakers and gets rolled around the Northbrook Court mall in a stroller.  Now it looks like he'll have to do it inside a steel carrier (how humiliating).

Seven Northbrook council members met earlier this week to decide the new mandates.  The Chicago Tribune reports that very few residents attended the assembly to express their thoughts.

The Northbrook Village Board also voted that kids under the age of 18 are allowed to carry guns if they have a note from their mother.

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