There is No Leash Law In Connecticut

Nope, no leash law. Instead, how the law in Connecticut reads is as follows:

"No owner or keeper of any dog shall allow such dog to roam at large upon the land of another and not under control of the owner or keeper or the agent of the owner or keeper, nor allow such dog to roam at large on any portion of any public highway and not attended or under control of such owner or keeper or his agent, provided nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or prohibit the use of hunting dogs during the open hunting or training season."

The essence of the law states that the dog has to be under the control of the owner at all times. This means that even if a dog is leashed, and jumping on people or creating a disturbance of some type, the owner is still liable because the dog is not under their control.

This morning, I am on my morning constitutional. There is new fallen snow everywhere and I am becoming frustrated because my normal spots for smelling, marking, and eliminating are buried. My feet are also getting wet. I am not amused because I can't walk on the sidewalks; we spend most of our time walking in the street. We pass one house on our walk that has a pit pull mix. His people are outside, shoveling their walk and their driveway. He is outside with them.

And he is loose.

As we come around the corner, the father of the family picks up the dog and starts to move him toward the house. We keep walking. There is an elderly man shoveling is walk at the house on the corner at the bottom of the road. The Woman waves to him as we approach. We then hear shouts from behind us, saying stop stop! and The Woman and I turn around to see why people are shouting.

The dog is loose and heading right toward me.

We are standing on a downhill slope of an icy road. There is a dog running toward me, not in a manner of suggesting play. There is The Woman, an elderly man, and the father and a young son chasing after their dog who is headed right toward me. I brace myself for the attack.

And The Woman drops the leash. She states to the family as their dog and I meet, that I am not going to back down from this fight.

And she is 100% correct in this assessment.

The pit bullish dog and I are fighting. There were growls and barks, teeth and claws. The family is trying to get to their dog; The Woman is regrabbing the leash as they are trying to pull their dog away so she can pull me away. This is when the other dog gets a hold of my tail- the tip of my tail to be exact, and does not let go.

Nobody sniffs, smells, or touches my butt without my permission.

This gives me full opportunity to create mayhem. I am now able to get a good attack on the dog, and in the battle, somehow either a tooth or a claw slashes the other dog's shoulder. The pitbull mix may be a strong dog, but I am lightning bolts faster in my ability to run around him and maintain my footing. He got some fur from my thick undercoat; I got one of his legs. As the family arrived and grabbed their dog, I was aiming for his neck but The Woman had the leash in check and I was back by her side.

She makes me sit.

The assessment of both dogs was done, and I was unharmed. Irritated but unharmed. I am upset by the changes in my neighborhood and now I had to reestablish my lordship of the neighborhood as well. I am not amused as The Woman looks me over to check for damage.

As the family walks back up the hill with their dog, the child was saying to the dog, "Bad Dog! Bad Boy!" which had no effect on the dog, but I suppose the child felt better saying that. The father was apologizing, and holding his dog in his arms.

And the elderly man who watched the whole fight suddenly says, "You know, there are leash laws in Connecticut," to his neighbor from up the road.

Yes, but technically no. The point is, though, that they had no control of their dog. He did not stop when they called him, he left his property, and he created a nuisance. I was defending myself and The Woman. There is a distinctive difference.


I Am Shiba. I Don't Start Fights But I Do Finish Them.