Bethel, CT Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

A of the Bethel Zoning Regulations, part of the zoning rewrite the Planning and Zoning Commission adopted 12-10-2024 and made effective 5-15-2025, sets the density table for canine/feline/rabbits. It provides that up to 4 dogs, cats and/or rabbits over the age of 12 weeks per property may be kept with no permit required. Once a household exceeds that threshold, keeping more than 4 dogs, cats, and/or rabbits over the age of 12 weeks per property triggers a Special Permit requirement from the Commission. The table lists 'none specified' under Other Limitations for both tiers, meaning the Regulations do not impose additional conditions, such as fencing or housing standards, on ordinary household pet-keeping the way they do for livestock and poultry elsewhere in the same section.

A third tier in the same table applies Special Permit review to any type of commercial boarding, day care or similar facility, so a resident who wants to run a dog day care or boarding kennel out of a residential property needs Commission approval regardless of how many animals are on-site. The 12-week age threshold means newborn litters do not count toward the 4-animal cap until they reach that age. Because this cap sits in the zoning code rather than a separate animal-control ordinance, it is enforced as a land-use matter through the Zoning Enforcement Officer.