Brookfield Animal Incident Shines Light on Connecticut’s Leash Laws

If you walk your dog without a leash, you're exposing both you and your animal to a possible horrible situation. In Brookfield, there was an incident involving an unleashed dog and three stray sheep and a goat. It's not the punch line of a joke, there's an important lesson for all dog owners in Connecticut to learn from this situation.

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Brookfield First Selectman Tara Carr shared a social media post from the Brookfield Conservation Commission regarding a recent incident that occurred in the woods behind Shakespeare's Garden on Obtuse Rd S. in town. In the post, Julie Osborne Blick described how three stray sheep and a goat were chased away from their sanctuary by someone walking an unleashed dog, and reminded everyone that leash laws are there for a reason.

One of the main reasons is you may lose your dog, permanently. Under Connecticut CSG 22-358 -

"Any owner or the agent of any owner of any domestic animal or poultry, or the Chief Animal Control Officer, or any animal control officer, any municipal animal control officer,  any regional animal control officer,  or any police officer or state policeman, may kill any dog which he observes pursuing or worrying any such domestic animal or poultry,"

Also -

"Any person who kills any dog, cat, or other animal in accordance with the provisions of this section shall not be held criminally or civilly liable therefor."

Let that sink in leashless dog walkers and cat owners.

As much as I think I know my dog, I have also encountered hundreds of instances of his unpredictability, we never go outside without a leash. Act like us. I've heard so many excuses as to why you may let your pet roam free - "Oh, she's friendly, she never leaves my side", or "it's only down my block, he knows everybody here", etc." Defending your animal on your property is justified, don't let it happen.