State of Connerticut. LAWS CONCERNING DOGS. A COMPILATION OF THE PUBLIC ACTS OF 1907 & 1909, RELATING TO DOGS. Corrected to the rising of General Assembly of 1909 ea HEMAN O. AVERILL, Commissioner on Domestic Animals. State of Connertirit. LAWS CONCERNING DOGS. A COMPILATION OF THE PUBLIC ACTS OF 1907 & 1909, RELATING TO DOGS. Corrected to the rising of General Assembly of 1909 by HEMAN O. AVERILL, Commissioner on Domestic Animals. . ae Ae ee * 2 " d x , at ge + 7 ‘ ~ =, - ! ‘ - : ~ x : — [Public Acts of 1907, Chapter 167, as amend- ed by Chapter 252 of Public Acts, 1907, and Chapter 55 of Public Acts, 1909.] LAWS CONCERNING DOGS. Section 1. Registration and License of Dogs. Every owner or keeper of a dog of the age of six months or over, excepting dogs Kept in Kennels under a kennel license as hereinafter provided, shall, on or before the first of May, or at such time as such dog shall become six months old, and in each year thereafter, cause such dog to be registered, numbered, described so as to clearly identify said dog, and licensed until the first day of May following, in the town elerk’s office in the town where such dog is owned or kept, and shall keep around its neck a collar as hereinafter provided; and shall pay to said town clerk for a license for a full year the sum of one dollar for each male or spayed dog, and five dollars for each unspayed female dog, and twenty- five cents additional in each case for regis- tration of said license and the tag herein- after provided for; and,in the case of a dog becoming six months old after the first day of May, the license fee for the balance of the twelve months shall be a proportional part of the fee charged for one year, and twenty-five cents for such registration and tag; provided, however, that the owner or keeper of any dog which was six months old or over on the first day of May and who neglects or refuses to cause said dog to be licensed on or before said first day of May shall, to secure a license for said dog afte: said date, pay to the town clerk one dollar 4 in addition to the fees hereinbefore pro- vided. Every person who shall knowingly register as a spayed dog an unspayed female dog shall be fined not more than seven dol- lars, or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both. i Sec. 2. Dog to Wear Collar and Tag. Every owner of a dog licensed as provided by law shall place and keep around the neck of such dog a collar of leather or other suitable material, to which there shall be attached, by means of rivets or metal bands, a metal tag or plate upon which shall be distinctly marked the name of the town in which said dog is registered and licensed, the registry number of said dog, and the year of registration. Said tag or plate, with the inscription thereon, shall be fur- nished by the town clerk of the town in which said dog is registered; and when- ever any such tag or plate shall be lost from the collar to which it was attached, the owner or keeper of the dog shall secure a substitute therefor from the town clerk who shall furnish the same at a cost of ten cents. The town clerk of eaeh town shall order a sufficient number of said metal tags or plates from the commissioner on domestic animals, who shall furnish the same to said town clerk at a cost of five cents each, and the town shall pay the bill for said tags, on the approval of the town clerk. If, after deducting the cost of the tags and the ex- penses incidental to the distribution of same to the town clerks, and the enforcement of the provisions of this act and of chapter 170 of the public acts of 1907, any balance shall remain in the hands of the commissioner on domestic animals, such balance shall be ac- counted for by him to the state comptroller and paid to the state treasurer, and there- / 5 upon added to the regular appropriation for the expenses of said commissioner. The design and shape of said tags or plates shall be changed each year but shall be of uni- form design and material throughout the state. Sec. 3. Kennel License for Dogs. Any owner or keeper of a kennel may apply, on or before the first day of May, to the town clerk of the town in which such kennel is located, for a kennel license. The town clerk shall issue to such applicant a kennel license for one year from said first day of 'May, which license shall specify the name of the kennel, the name of the owner, and the keeper of same. Such license shall be in lieu of any other license required by law to be taken out for any dog of either sex that may be kept in said kennel during the period for’ which such license is issued. Every dog kept in such kennel so licensed shall, when at large, wear a collar bearing a metal tag or plate upon which shall ap- pear the number of the kennel license, the name of the town issuing such license, and the year thereof, which plates or tag shall be furnished by the town clerk of the town in which such kennel is licensed, to the licensee, at a cost of ten cents each, in such quantities and at such times as the licensee may request. .The fee of every such kennel license, when no more than ten dogs are kept in such kennel, shall be twenty-five dollars, and for such license for a kennel containing more than ten dogs, the fee shall be fifty dollars. Every town clerk who shall issue a license as provided in this section shall receive the money therefor, ard, after deducting one dollar as his fee and five eents for each tag furnished, shall pay the balance to the treasurer of the town within 6 thirty days. The provisions of section fif« teen of this act shall apply to all dogs be- longing to a kennel licensed under the pro- visions of this section. , Sec. 4. Person Becoming Owner of Dog to Register. Every person becoming the owner or keeper of any dog not duly licensed shall forthwith cause said dog to be regis- tered, numbered, described, and licensed un- til the first day of the ensuing May, in the manner and upon the terms and conditions hereinbefore provided. Sec. 5. Certified Copy of Registration When Dog Is Removed to Another Town. Whenever a dog duly registered according to law shall be removed from one town to another, the owner or keeper of such dog shall procure from the town clerk of the town in which such dog is registered a certi- fied copy of said registration, and cause the same to be recorded in the records of the town to which such dog is removed, and obtain from the town elerk of said town to which such dog is removed a new registry and license tag, and such record and said tag attached to the collar of such dog shall be evidence that such dog is registered according to law, until the first of May succeeding the date of said record. The fees of town clerks for the issue and record of such certificates shall be fifteen cents each and ten cents for such tag, and they shall issue the same upon payment of said fees. Src. 6. List of Registered Dogs. Every town clerk shall, annually, on or before the first day of June, furnish the selectmen with a list of the persons owning or harboring dogs who have caused the same to be regis- if tered, and said selectmen shall thereupon cause diligent search for unregistered dogs to be made by the dog warden, who shall cause persons owning or harboring the same to be prosecuted as hereinafter provided. Every town clerk, selectman, or dog warden who shall neglect or refuse to perform any duty prescribed by this section shall be fined not more than seven dollars for each offense. Sec. 7. Disposition of License Money. Town clerks shall issue and register the licenses provided by sections one and three of this act, and provide and furnish the tags or plates as provided by sections two and three as amended and receive the money therefor; and after deducting twenty cents for each dog so licensed and numbered and five cents for each substitute tag sold shall pay the balance to the treasurer of the town within thirty days thereafter. The said treasurer shall keep an accurate and separate account of all moneys received and expended by him under the provisions of this act and shall pay to the state treasurer on June first of each year seventy-five per centum of all money so received, including the amount of the balance of twenty-five per centum retained at the beginning of the year preceding as hereinbefore provided. Sec. 8. Appointment and Duties of Dog Warden. The selectmen of every town, ex- cept towns containing a city whose limits are coterminous with the limits of said town, and the chief of police of every city, shall, annually, on or before-the first day of April, appoint some person to be dog war- den for the term of one year thereafter, and report said appointment within ten days of the making thereof to the commissioner on domestic animals, and the dog warden 8 So appointed shall perform the duties herein- after prescribed; provided, that, in any town within which there exists a city the limits of which are not coterminous with the limits of such town, the town dog warden shall ex- ereise the powers and duties of his office only in such part of such town as is outside the limits of such city. The dog warden shall make diligent search and inquiry for the violation of any provision of this act and shall take into his custody every dog — not having a tag or plate on a collar about his neck as hereinbefore provided, or which shall not be confined or controlled agreeable to any rule, order, or regulation duly pro- mulgated by the commissioner on domestic animals, or by any local official or officials vested with authority to make such rule, order, or regulation, and shall impound each dog so taken, in some suitable place pro- vided by such town or city, for a period of seventy-two hours. Said dog warden shall immediately notify the owner or keeper of any deg so taken, if known, of its impound- ment; but, if the owner or keeper of said dog is unknown to the deg warden, the dog warden shall immediately notify the town clerk of the time and place of capture, and shall give a particular description of said dog, and if such dog shail not, at the expira- tion of said period of seventy-two hours, have been claimed and released as herein- after provided, such dog shall be mercifully killed by said warden. Said dog warden, upon presentation of a sworn statement of services rendered by him under this act, ac- ceptable to the selectmen, shall be paid by the town three dollars for each dog cap- tured, impounded, and killed, and such addi- tional remuneration from the general funds of the town or city as the authorities there- of may direct. Any dog captured and im- 9 pounded under the provisions of this section may be redeemed by the owner or keeper thereof and released by the dog warden at any time within seventy-two hours after its impoundment, upon the payment of the sum of three dollars to the dog warden, but, if the cause for capture be without fault of the owner, said payment shall be one dollar only. Any dog warden may be removed, for cause, by the authority appointing him, and any vacancy occurring in the office of dog warden shall be immediately filled by said authority. In case of the neglect of selectmen or chiefs of police to appoint and report their appointment of dog wardens as hereinbefore provided, the commissioner on domestic animals shall appoint such dog wardens, whose duties, powers, and com- pensation shali be the same as those of dog wardens heretofore described. Sec. 9. Damage by~ Dogs, How Paid. Vhen any person shall sustain damage by dogs to his sheep, lambs, Angora goats, Angora kids, horses, hogs, eattle, or other domestic animals or poultry, he shall give information thereof to one of the selectmen of the town in which such damage was done, or, if said damage is sustained on land located in two or more towns, informa- tion thereof shall be given to one of the selectmen of either of such towns within twenty-four hours after the owner has knowledge of the same, and thereupon one of the selectmen of such town, with a person to be named by the person suffering the damage, shall estimate the amount of such damage, including the labor and time neces- sarily expended in finding and collecting such animals or poultry injured or sepa- rated, and the value of those killed, injured, lost, or damaged by said dogs. In case the 10 N ; selectman and the person named cannot agree upon the amount of the damage, they shall choose some disinterested third person to assist in estimating the said damage. The amount of damages estimated by any two of said three persons shall be paid by such town, and it may recover such damages, when paid, together with the compensation of said appraisers, from the owners, keepers, or harborers of such dogs.if residents of such town. If the owners, keepers, or har- borers of such dogs shall not be residents of the town in which the damage was done, the town paying the damage may recover such damage and compensation from the town or towns where such owners, keepers, or harborers reside, unless such owners, keepers, or harborers, or such town or towns shall, on notice, pay to the treasurer of the town which paid said damage the amount of such damage and compensation; and any town which shall be obliged to pay any damage as aforesaid may _ recover. the amount thereof from the owners, keepers, or harborers of the dogs doing such damage. When any town shall have paid such dam- ages to the owner of sheep, lambs, Angora goats, Angora kids, horses, hogs, cattle, or other domestic animals or poultry as pro- vided in this section and the amount of such damage cannot be collected from the owners, keepers, or harborers of said dogs, or shall have paid dog wardens for dogs killed as provided by this act and amendments there- to, or whenever any city, town, or borough shall have paid expenses for Pasteur treat- ment as provided by section two of chapter 170 of the public acts of 1907, the selectmen of such towns where damages have been paid to owners of animals as hereinbefore mentioned, or the treasurer of any town, city. or borough who shall have paid for 1] such Pasteur treatment, shall forward to the state treasurer a statement of the facts in each case, showing the amount so paid, and the state treasurer shall reimburse such town to the amount of such damage or ex- pense from the funds received by the state under the provisions of this act. When the identity of the dogs by which the damage was done shall be established to the satis- faction of the selectmen of the town in which such dogs are owned, kept, or har- bored, the selectmen shall order that such dogs shall be killed forthwith. Sec. 10. Liability for Damage Done by Dog. When a dog shall do any damage, either to the body or property of any per- son, the owner or keeper, or, if the owner or keeper be a minor, the parent or guardian of such minor, shall be liable for such dam- ages. . Sec. 11. Joint and Several Liability for Damage. When any sheep, lambs, or other domestic animals, shall have been damaged by two or more dogs at the same time, kept by two or more persons, the owners or keep- ers of such dogs shall be jointly and sever- ally liable for such damages. Sec. 12. Commissioner on Domestic Ani- mals May Make Rules Concerning Dogs. The commissioner on domestic animals may, at any time, make such further rules for controlling or destroying dogs in any town or towns as he may deem reasonable for the security of the inhabitants or their property, and notice of such rules shall be given by advertising the same in at least one newspaper having a circulation in each town, city, or borough affected by said rules and by mailing a copy thereof to the town 12 clerk of each such town not less than five days before said rules shall take effect. The selectmen or dog warden may kill or cause to be killed all dogs which shall not be con- trolled or destroyed in accordance with such rules, or which shall be found rabid, or are justly suspected of being rabid, or are found doing mischief when not under the care of any person, or are found killing or worrying sheep, lambs, or other domestic animals or poultry, and shall receive such compensation therefor as is provided in section eight as amended. Sec. 13. Dog Found Doing Damage May Be Killed. Any person may kill any dog which he finds pursuing, worrying, or wound- ing any sheep, lambs, or other domestic ani- mals, or any dog which he finds straying between sunset and sunrise on any farm whereon any sheep, lambs, or other domestic animals are kept; but no dog, so straying between sunset and sunrise, which is kept by the occupant of any premises next ad- joining the said farm or next adjoining that part of any highway which abuts on said farm, or which dog is securely muzzled, or is accompanied by or within reasonable call of any person having the charge of said dog, shall be killed unless there is reasonable apprehension that such dog, if not killed, will pursue, worry, wound, or terrify sheep, lambs, or other domestic animals then on said farm. Any person who shall be at- tacked, bitten, or otherwise wounded by any ‘dog, such person not being upon the prem- ises or property of the owner or keeper of such dog, may immediately kill such dog, or may make complaint thereof to the dog warden of the town wherein such dog is owned or kept, and said dog warden shall immediately make an investigation of such 13 complaint, and, if it be found to be sub- stantiated and true, shall at once kill said dog or order the same to be confined. Any person killing a dog or dogs in accordance with the provisions of this section shall not be held criminally or civilly liable therefor. Sec. 14. Penalty. Duty of Officers. Duty of Commissioner on Domestic Animals. Every person owning, keeping, or harboring a dog, who shall violate any provision ofthis - act for which no other penalty is provided, or any rule for restraining or destroying dogs, legally made and published, shall be fined not more than seven dollars, or im- prisoned not more than thirty days, or both. Grand jurors, constables, dog wardens, and all presecuting officers shall diligently in- quire after and prosecute any violation of the provisions of this act, and the commis- sioner on domestic animals shall, upon the complaint of any person that any such Offi-_ cer is dilatory or negligent in the perform- ance of his duties concerning the enforce- ment of this act, make such orders and take such action as he shall deem necessary to secure such enforcement. Sec.-15. Penalty for Stealing Registered Dog. Every person who shall steal, or con- fine and secrete, any registered dog or any dog under the age of six months, or who shall maliciously remove the collar or reg- istry tag from any registered dog, or who shall unlawfully kill or injure any such dog, shall be liable to the owner in a civil action, and shall be fined not more than two hun- dred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. Sec. 16. Notices to be Annually Posted. The selectmen of each town shall, annually. 14 > at least thirty days before the first of May, post a notice in every school district in their respective towns, setting forth all the re- - quirements of this act, with the penalties for non-compliance with the same. Sec. 17. Return of Money to Towns by State Treasurer. All moneys received by the state treasurer under the provisions of section seven of this act, during the year ending June first of each year, and remain- ing unexpended on July first following, shall be returned pro rata to the towns paying the same, in proportion to the amounts so paid by them, respectively. Sec. 18. Tax not to be Refunded. No moneys paid into the treasury of a town, which arise from the tax or license on dogs, shall be paid back to the persons from whom the same was collected, but the same, if not needed for the payment of damages done by dogs and the compensation of dog wardens under the provisions of this act, or under the provisions of section 1936 of the general statutes, shall be used for the ordinary pur- poses of the town. Every selectman who shall sign an order for the repayment of such tax or license fee shall be fined not more than seven dollars. ; Secs 29: Whenever any person or persons shall make complaint in writing to the selectmen of a town, the warden of a borough, or the chief of police of a city that any dog owned or harbored within said town, borough, or city is a nuisance by reason of vicious disposition, excessive barking, or other disturbance, or that any dog by such barking or other disturbance is a source of annoyance to any invalid or sick person re- siding in the vicinity, said selectmen, chief 15 of police, or warden shall investigate such complaint and may make such order con- cerning the destruction, removal, or restraint of such dog as may be deemed necessary. Any person owning or harboring such dog who shall neglect or refuse to comply with such order of said selectmen, chief of police, or warden shall be fined not more than seven dollars, or imprisoned not more than thirty ~ days, or both, and the dog warden having jurisdiction shall, upon such neglect or re- fusal, capture, confine, release, or kill such dog. ; ; Sec. 20. Section three of chapter 170 of the public acts of 1907 and all other acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. : Sec. 21. The foregoing provisions relating to the payment for tags ordered by town clerks from the commissioner on domestic animals, and the fees which the town clerks shall receive therefor, shall apply to the distribution of tags made in 1909. Sec. 22. This act shall take effect from its passage. ~ [Public Acts, 1907, Chapter 170.] AN ACT CONCERNING THE: PREVEN- TION AND TREATMENT OF RABIES. Section 1. Notice to Be Given by Health Officer to Commissioner on Domestic Ani- mals. The health officer or board of health of any town, city or borough shall, within twenty-four hours after having received in- formation of the existence or supposed ex- istence within such town, city, or borough of the infectious disease known as rabies, give notice thereof to the commissioner on 16 domestic animals, who shall make immediate investigation and may make such rules and regulations for the adequate confinement, control, or destruction of dogs, or other do- mestic animals, as he may deem necessary to prevent the spread of said disease and to protect the public therefrom. Notice of such rules and regulations shall be given by said commissioner by advertising the same in a newspaper having a circulation in each town, city, or borough affected by said rules and regulations and by mailing a copy thereof to the town clerk of each such town not less than five days before said rules and regulations shall take effect. Every such town clerk, on receipt of said copy, shall forthwith give, at the expense of the town, such further notice thereof as in his opinion is necessary to notify the inhabit- ants of said town of the provisions of said rules and regulations. Sec. 2. Pasteur Treatment to Be Provided by Town. If any person shall have been injured by a dog or other domestic animal affected or believed to be affected by rabies, and a registered physician shall certify un-. der oath that Pasteur treatment of such injury is necessary, the selectmen of the town, the mayor of the city, or the warden of the borough in which such injury was received shall, upon receipt of the certificate of said physician, immediately provide for said treatment, and the expense thereof shall be paid by said town, city, or borough. Sec. 3. Penalty. Every person who shall violate or neglect or refuse to comply with any rule or regulation made under the pro- visions of section one of this act shall be fined not more than seven dollars.