Meriden, CT Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 150-2A(2)
- Fine range
- $50 to $90 per violation
- Enforcing agency
- Meriden Police Department
- Covered wildlife
- Birds, nests, eggs, and other city wildlife
- Adopted
- May 2, 1977; amended June 1, 1992
Summary
In the City of Meriden, City Code § 150-2A(2) bans disturbing or injuring any bird, bird's nest, or eggs, and any other wildlife, anywhere within Meriden, including on all Parks and Recreation Department property. The same park-rules subsection limits fishing to waters the City designates for it. Anyone who violates any Chapter 150 park rule, including this bird protection, faces a fine of $50 to $90 under § 150-2B(2), enforced by Meriden Police.
Disturbing or injuring animals and fowl; limitations on fishing. No person shall disturb or injure any bird, bird's nest or eggs or any other animal in said municipality, or disturb or injure any animal wildlife within said City, or fish in its waters except waters designated for such purpose. ... Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a fine, in addition to other remedies, of $50 to $90 for each violation.
Full Breakdown
The City of Meriden protects birds and wildlife directly inside its park-use ordinance rather than a stand-alone animal-cruelty chapter. Chapter 150, Parks and Recreation, adopted by the Meriden City Council on May 2, 1977 and amended through 1992, opens its rules for park and recreational facility use at § 150-2A. Subsection A(2), covering disturbing or injuring animals and fowl, makes it unlawful for anyone to disturb or injure a bird, a bird's nest, or bird eggs, or to disturb or injure any other wildlife, anywhere within the City of Meriden, not only on designated park property.
The same subsection folds in fishing: no one may fish in city waters except where the City has designated the water for that purpose, with carve-outs at Mirror Lake (anglers 15 and under, or an adult accompanied by a licensed minor angler) and Giuffrida Park's Crescent Lake (special license from Parks and Recreation only). The prohibition applies to all park property as defined in § 150-1, a term covering every park, watershed, boulevard, and piece of land the Parks and Recreation Department manages, plus the wildlife and birds on it.
Enforcement runs through the Meriden Police Department, which the ordinance directs to enforce all Chapter 150 rules with the help of City personnel and private security when needed. Anyone found disturbing or injuring a bird, nest, eggs, or other wildlife faces the chapter's general penalty: a fine of $50 to $90 for each violation.
Violations & Fines
Disturbing, injuring, or killing a bird, a bird's nest, bird eggs, or other wildlife anywhere in Meriden, including city parks and watershed land, violates § 150-2A(2). The Meriden Police Department enforces Chapter 150 with support from City personnel and private security, per § 150-2B(1). A conviction carries a fine of $50 to $90 for each offense under § 150-2B(2), separate from any Connecticut General Statutes penalty for the same conduct, and each incident is billed as its own violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I remove a bird's nest from my Meriden property?
Where can I fish in Meriden?
Who enforces the Meriden park wildlife rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Meriden
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