Will Falconer, DVM Moderator
Hi Karen,
Every municipality varies quite a bit in what they require of the animals who live in and around them. I don't personally know Chicago, but I'd just guess that there's a large community of naturally raised animals who visit parks and woods on a regular basis without risk of either rabies or repeated vaccinations.
Rabies is a reportable disease, and the incidence is quite low. It usually makes the newspapers, in fact, if it appears. But each state in the US has a public health department that tracks rabies, and their data is online, in quite deep detail: the species that was found rabid, which county it was found in, etc.
So, while you're coming from a rabies free country, don't assume that rabies is a rampant disease in the states. It's not. I live in Texas, the very large state bordering Mexico, where rabies is quite common. I'm not seeing the rabies incidence being alarming by any means, being in the veterinary field for 20 years here.
The main thing is to focus on those preventative things you've learned here and elsewhere, and find some like minded animal owners to "get the lay of the land" where you are moving. Natural health food stores, bulletin boards, online chat communities, etc. I have a client in Chicago who's raising very healthy vital dogs who charge around in the woods and parks on a regular basis, and she's not seeing rabies.
All the best in your upcoming move!