New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Dog leash length limited to 6 feet
WEST HAVEN — The City Council voted Monday night to limit the length of dog leashes to 6 feet on city property, following a public hearing that didn’t draw any input on the subject from residents.
The new city code passed easily with one dissenting vote from Republican Councilman Barry Cohen. There was no debate or conversation about the measure, but it was heavily discussed by city council members at a previous meeting.
West Haven now is one of the few municipalities in the state to be so specific in a leash law, along with Madison and Greenwich.
Madison limits leashes to 10 feet and Greenwich requires dogs be “kept on a secure leash less than ten feet in length.”
While some council members have said leash length limit would spare other pedestrians from unwanted dog encounters and having their lawns used as pooch toilets, many say the control is not about the leash, but the human on the other end.
The state does not mandate that dogs remain on leashes at all times, but prohibits dogs from roaming on people’s property, state parks, sidewalks or public highways “if it is not under their control.”
Most municipalities have leash laws varying in wording, but few have leash lengths in the local codes. There are exemptions for being off-leash in places such as dog parks.
In West Haven, it was Chrystal Fanelli, 8th District Democrat who doesn’t have a dog, who proposed the 6-foot rule, saying it was in response to constituents complaining about safety — dogs getting too close
to other people — as well as about dogs excreting on lawns and residents’ flower beds.
City Councilman Gary Donovan, D-At Large, said at a previous meeting he didn’t thinks the council should put a number on leash length and added, “It’s bad enough the government and legislators are telling people what to do every other day.”
Council member Barry Lee Cohen, R-10, spoke strongly at a previous meeting against limiting leash length to 6 feet.
Cohen, a self-described “avid dog lover” who is often out walking with his rescue, Roxie O’Donnell — so spoiled she got a pork chop on national Dog Day — did his research.
“Many constituents and animal professionals I’ve communicated with believe
the 6-foot leash rule is extremely restrictive to good dogs, unrealistic and arbitrary,” Cohen said after a previous meeting. “I firmly believe that regardless of the length of the leash, the owner must always be in control of their dog . ... If the owner does not have control of their dog, a shorter leash may not provide any additional layer of protection from less-obedient dogs.”
Karen Lombardi, chief municipal animal control officer for Woodbridge Regional Animal Control, which covers Woodbridge, Bethany and Seymour, has said there are couple of ways to look at the issue, but in the end it comes down to humans. Woodbridge has a leash law, but no length limit. She said a leash is to control the animal and keep it safe.
“I know people who train their dogs and may require a 15-foot leash,” she said. “There could be a person with a 4-foot leash and the dog is still not under control.”