Sec. 22-332. Impoundment and disposition of roaming, injured or mistreated animals. Authority to spay or neuter unclaimed dog. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 22-332. Impoundment and disposition of roaming, injured or mistreated animals. Authority to spay or neuter unclaimed dog. (a) The Chief Animal Control Officer, any animal control officer or any municipal animal control officer shall be responsible for the enforcement of this chapter and shall make diligent search and inquiry for any violation of any of its provisions. Any such officer may take into custody (1) any dog found roaming in violation of the provisions of section 22-364, (2) any dog not having a tag or plate on a collar about its neck or on a harness on its body as provided by law or which is not confined or controlled in accordance with the provisions of any order or regulation relating to rabies issued by the commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, or (3) any dog found injured on any highway, neglected, abandoned or cruelly treated. The officer shall impound such dog at the pound serving the town where the dog is taken unless, in the opinion of a licensed veterinarian, the dog is so injured or diseased that it should be destroyed immediately, in which case the municipal animal control officer of such town may cause the dog to be mercifully killed by a licensed veterinarian or disposed of as the State Veterinarian may direct. The municipal animal control officer shall immediately notify the owner or keeper of any dog so taken, if known, of its impoundment. Such officer shall immediately notify the owner or keeper of any other animal which is taken into custody, if such owner or keeper is known. If the owner or keeper of any such dog or other animal is unknown, the officer shall immediately tag or employ such other suitable means of identification of the dog or other animal as may be approved by the Chief Animal Control Officer and shall promptly cause a description of such dog or other animal to be published once in the lost and found column of a newspaper having a circulation in such town.

      (b) If such dog or other animal is not claimed by and released to the owner within seven days after the date of publication, the municipal animal control officer, upon finding such dog or other animal to be in satisfactory health, may have a licensed veterinarian spay or neuter such dog and sell such dog or other animal to any person who satisfies such officer that he is purchasing it as a pet and that he can give it a good home and proper care. The municipal animal control officer may retain possession of such dog or other animal for such additional period of time as he may deem advisable in order to place such dog or other animal as a pet and may have a licensed veterinarian spay or neuter such dog. If, within such period, any dog or other animal is not claimed by and released to the owner or keeper or purchased as a pet, the officer shall cause such dog or other animal to be mercifully killed by a licensed veterinarian or disposed of as the State Veterinarian may direct. Any veterinarian who so destroys a dog shall be paid from the dog fund account. No person who so destroys a dog or other animal shall be held criminally or civilly liable therefor nor shall any licensed veterinarian who spays or neuters a dog pursuant to this section be held civilly liable, including, but not limited to, liability for reconstructive neutical implantation surgery.

      (c) The town treasurer or other fiscal officer shall pay from the dog fund account the advertising expense incurred under the provisions of this section upon receipt of an itemized statement together with a copy of the advertisement as published. Any person who purchases a dog as a pet shall pay a fee of five dollars and procure a license and tag for such dog from the town clerk, in accordance with the provisions of section 22-338.

      (1949 Rev., S. 3379; 1951, S. 710b; 1953, 1955, S. 1817d; 1961, P.A. 517, S. 21; 1963, P.A. 14, S. 3; 613, S. 35; 1969, P.A. 81, S. 4; 1971, P.A. 76; P.A. 74-183, S. 246, 291; P.A. 76-436, S. 212, 681; P.A. 78-280, S. 1, 127; P.A. 80-315, S. 1; P.A. 86-45, S. 1; P.A. 91-59, S. 6; P.A. 93-435, S. 34, 95; P.A. 96-243, S. 15, 16; P.A. 98-12, S. 8, 22; P.A. 03-137, S. 1.)

      History: 1961 act substituted "prosecuting attorney for the circuit court of the circuit within which the dog is found" for "local prosecuting attorney"; 1963 acts divided section into Subsecs., allowed immediate destruction of animal if necessary, deleted requirement that dog be kept for 120 hours, required notification of state warden if dog unclaimed after three days from published notice, revised and clarified provisions re disposition of dog if unclaimed after seven days, replaced "dog license fund" with "dog fund account", specified that hospitals, laboratories, etc. purchasing unclaimed dogs need not procure dog license and raised purchase fee for pets from $4 to $5; 1969 act replaced references to wardens with references to canine control officers as appropriate; 1971 act deleted requirement in Subsec. (b) requiring warden to notify chief canine control officer of dog's capture and dog's description; P.A. 74-183 replaced circuit court with court of common pleas and "circuit" with "county or judicial district" in Subsec. (a); P.A. 76-436 replaced court of common pleas with superior court and "prosecuting attorney" with "office of the state's attorney", effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 78-280 deleted reference to counties; P.A. 80-315 deleted provisions in Subsecs. (b) and (c) which had allowed hospitals, laboratories, etc. to purchase unclaimed dogs, but see Sec. 22-332a; P.A. 86-45 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provision re reporting of violations to the state's attorney; P.A. 91-59 replaced references to "local dog warden" with references to "municipal animal control officer"; P.A. 93-435 made certain technical and grammatical revisions, effective June 28, 1993; P.A. 96-243 included "other animals" within the coverage of this section, effective June 6, 1996; P.A. 98-12 changed "canine control officer" to "animal control officer" in Subsec. (a), effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 03-137 amended Subsec. (b) to add provisions re authority to neuter or spay and re civil liability therefor.

      An unregistered dog is not an outlaw to be killed summarily at a whim of any individual. 18 CS 53.