Animal Ordinances in Connecticut (2026)

Connecticut General Statutes § 47-43 requires landowners to build and keep sufficient fences that contain their…

Danbury's Zoning Regulations bar keeping livestock or poultry anywhere in the city except on a lot operating as a farm…

New Britain flatly bans keeping swine or maintaining a pigpen anywhere in the city under Sec. 6-3, and separately makes…

Bridgeport requires a written permit from the board of health before keeping chickens, hens, roosters, ducks, geese, or…

Bristol does not cap how many chickens or roosters a resident may keep, but a rooster that draws a valid noise…

Hartford's Chapter 6 animal code lets residents keep poultry, pigeons and swine, but not without limits. Chickens and…

Manchester's Code of Ordinances does not regulate backyard chickens, but Section 113-1 does require anyone keeping pigs…

Waterbury bans keeping horses, ponies, cattle, sheep, goats, swine or poultry, including backyard chickens, on any…

Bethel's zoning regulations let residents keep chickens and other poultry, but the number allowed depends on lot zone…

The Town of Greenwich lets residents keep chickens and other livestock under Code of Ordinances Article 9, but a coop…

Chapter 90 of the Hamden Code of Ordinances requires any structure that houses domestic animals or fowl, including…

Meriden allows backyard chickens and turkeys as an accessory use in the R-R, S-R and R-1 districts, capping the flock…

New Haven allows up to six hens as an accessory use in the RS-1, RS-2, RM-1, and RM-2 districts, with enclosure size…

Norwalk allows backyard chickens and other fowl or livestock on residential property, but caps flocks at 12 chickens…

Ridgefield limits hooved livestock, cattle, goats, sheep, horses and similar animals, to a half acre of usable lot area…

Stamford's Zoning Regulations permit keeping livestock incidental to a residential use in any district, and allow…

In the Town of Stratford, Connecticut, Section 4.4.4.C of the Zoning Regulations lets a lot of at least 5,000 square…

Connecticut state law prohibits dogs from roaming at large on highways or other public places and imposes strict…

Bridgeport bans dogs at large at any time, anywhere in the city. Off the owner's premises a dog must be leashed, and…

Bristol's animal ordinance requires anyone in charge of a dog or other animal on a city street or public place to stay…

Danbury requires any dog off its owner's property to be on a secure leash held by a capable handler, or confined in a…

Greenwich's Code of Ordinances lets the Board of Health designate public areas and buildings as restricted zones where…

Hartford dogs may not leave their owner's property unless fitted with and wearing a proper leash or chain; letting one…

In the City of Meriden, dogs must stay on a leash or lead no longer than 10 feet whenever they are on a public street…

New Britain bans dogs from streets, parks, and other public or unenclosed private places unless securely leashed in a…

New Haven requires owners to keep animals under control with a leash and bars letting pets run at large on city streets…

Ridgefield does not print a town-wide leash law in its General Code; its at-large rule is written for park property…

Dogs must be on a securely held leash on Stamford streets, sidewalks, and public places; off-leash use is allowed only…

A dog in the Town of Stratford, Connecticut cannot roam at large on another person's land, a public street or sidewalk…

Waterbury forbids owners and keepers from letting a dog run at large on city streets, public ways, or on anyone else's…

In every Town of West Hartford park or playground, § 128-3D bars taking a dog in unless it is on a leash no longer than…

In the City of West Haven, Connecticut, a dog on the streets, public ways or playgrounds must be controlled by a leash…

Connecticut state law expressly preempts municipalities from enacting breed-specific dog regulations, prohibiting any…

Norwalk does not ban any dog breed by name; instead its Vicious Dog ordinance lets the Board of Police Commissioners…

Danbury does not ban breeds; Sec. 4-24 defines a vicious dog by unprovoked attacks or fighting use and requires owners…

Hartford does not ban dog breeds outright; instead it declares individual dogs dangerous after an unprovoked attack or…

New Britain does not ban dogs by breed, but section 6-27 lets the animal control officer declare any individual dog…

Stamford has no breed-specific ban: any dog can be declared 'dangerous/vicious' under Code of Ordinances § 111-6.C…

Stratford, Connecticut defines a vicious or dangerous animal by conduct rather than by a named breed: unprovoked…

Waterbury does not ban dogs by breed. Instead, § 92.29 imposes strict enclosure, muzzling, signage, and insurance…

Connecticut law requires anyone owning one or more bee hives to register with the State Entomologist upon acquiring…

Hartford allows backyard beekeeping but caps residential lots at 4 colonies (up to 10 with more land) and requires…

New Britain treats residential beekeeping as a permitted accessory use under zoning section 6-37, letting owners keep…

In the Town of Stratford, Connecticut, Section 4.4.4.E of the Zoning Regulations requires annual registration of every…

West Hartford allows backyard honeybee colonies as a permitted accessory use under Town Code § 177-12, but only on lots…

New Haven bans possessing potentially dangerous wild animals like bears, alligators, monkeys, wolves, and coyotes…

Stamford's animal ordinance makes it unlawful to own or keep any poisonous or dangerous reptile or arachnid in the…

The Town of Stratford, Connecticut requires a Mayor-issued permit to possess a lion, wolf, bear, bobcat or any other…

Waterbury outright bans keeping, maintaining, or displaying any poisonous reptile within city limits for any purpose…

The City of West Haven, Connecticut requires a permit from the Board of Parks and Recreation before anyone walks…

Connecticut prohibits the intentional feeding of black bears and other potentially dangerous animals on any land not…

New Britain outright bans feeding geese, ducks or any other waterfowl on public property or in a city park. Only a…

Bristol bars anyone from feeding, harassing, capturing, removing, injuring, or killing any animal, or disturbing its…

Chapter 113, Article IV of the Manchester Code of Ordinances bars intentionally feeding deer, bears, coyotes, foxes…

Stamford bans feeding feral or street pigeons in public where it causes or risks a public-health nuisance, though…

Greenwich's Code of Ordinances Section 4-115 lets the Board of Health designate public parklands as areas where feeding…

In the Town of Stratford, Connecticut, no one can feed wildlife on a continuous basis in any public park or on other…

Connecticut criminalizes animal cruelty including hoarding under state law, with statewide felony provisions for severe…

Bethel's zoning regulations cap how many dogs, cats and rabbits a property can hold without government sign-off. Up to…

Bristol does not cap the number of dogs a household may own outright, but once a residential property keeps four or…

Bristol's feral cat ordinance presumes that anyone who intentionally feeds or cares for a cat is its legal keeper…

New Britain requires any cat allowed to roam outdoors to be vaccinated for rabies and feline distemper, spayed or…

New Haven animal control can seize any cat that damages someone else's property or creates an unsanitary or offensive…

Stamford regulates cats under Code of Ordinances § 111-7: a roaming cat must be fixed, vaccinated and microchipped, a…

Bristol makes it unlawful to own, harbor or keep a cat over six months old that has not been spayed, neutered or…

Every domesticated cat in New Britain must be spayed or neutered by six months old unless the owner holds a…

New Haven requires owners of dogs the animal control officer declares 'potentially dangerous' to spay or neuter the…

Norwalk does not require every pet to be fixed, but any dog the Board of Police Commissioners declares "vicious" under…

Stamford doesn't require every cat to be fixed, but a cat can only run free outside its owner's property if it's spayed…

Owners of dogs New Haven's animal control officer classifies as 'dangerous' must microchip the animal within 10 days of…

New Britain requires every dog identified on a breeder's permit to be micro-chipped before the police department's…

A Stamford cat can only roam free outside its owner's property if it's 'appropriately micro-chipped or otherwise…

Waterbury does not require microchipping every dog, but it ties a microchip to the two channels that let a dog…

Coyotes are common throughout Bridgeport's parks and shoreline neighborhoods. Connecticut DEEP manages the species and…

The Stratford Zoning Regulations define a commercial kennel as a place maintained for boarding or grooming dogs or…

Stamford's zoning lets RA-1, RA-2 and RA-3 landowners keep horses as an accessory farm use, but the rule expressly…

West Hartford permits veterinary facilities in residential zones only with a special use permit under Town Code §…

Hartford allows veterinary clinics and animal hospitals as a Neighborhood Service use, but bars outdoor kennels and…

New Haven's zoning Use Table allows veterinary clinics, pet daycares, and pet groomers with fully enclosed facilities…

In the Town of Stratford, Connecticut, the Zoning Regulations treat an animal hospital and a veterinary clinic as one…

The Town of Hamden designates Brooksvale Recreation Park as a wildlife area, bird sanctuary and recreation area under §…

New Britain bars anyone from hunting, molesting, harming, trapping or killing any bird within a city park, and from…

City code bars disturbing birds, nests, or eggs and prohibits feeding birds or other wildlife in Bridgeport's public…

New Haven bans hunting, harming, or trapping birds and other wildlife in city parks, and also bans taking eggs, nests…

In the City of Meriden, City Code § 150-2A(2) bans disturbing or injuring any bird, bird's nest, or eggs, and any other…

In the Town of Stratford, Connecticut, no person shall at any time molest or disturb birds, birds' eggs, birds' nests…

Waterbury protects wildlife inside its parks by ordinance. City Code § 98.17 makes it unlawful to disturb or injure any…

In the City of West Haven, Connecticut, no one can injure, damage or disturb any bird, bird's nest or eggs, or any…