Sec. 22-355. Damage by dogs to domestic animals. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 22-355. Damage by dogs to domestic animals. (a) When any person sustains damage by dogs to his sheep, goats, horses, hogs, cattle, poultry or domestic rabbits kept in enclosures as described in subsection (f) of this section, such person shall report such damage to the chief administrative officer of the town in which such damage was sustained, or his agent, or, if such damage was sustained on land located in two or more towns, he shall report such damage to such authority of either of such towns. Thereupon such authority, with the person claiming to have sustained such damage, shall estimate the amount of such damage, including the value of the animals or poultry killed, injured or damaged by such dogs. If such authority and the person claiming to have sustained such damage are unable to agree as to the amount thereof, they shall choose some disinterested third person to assist in estimating the damage. Information required by this subsection shall be given within twenty-four hours after the person claiming under this section has or should have had knowledge of the same or, if the intervention of a Sunday or holiday prevents the reporting thereof, on the next succeeding business day. No claim for such damages shall be allowed to any person (1) who owns, keeps or has in possession any unlicensed dog, (2) whose employee, living on the premises, keeps an unlicensed dog which is six months of age or over, or (3) who fails to report such damage within the time limited by this section. The burden of proving the allegations of any claim under this section shall be on the person claiming under this section.

      (b) The amount of damage agreed upon or estimated by any two of such three persons shall be paid by such town, and the town may recover such amount, when paid, with the compensation of such disinterested third person, from the owners, keepers or harborers of such dogs, if such persons are the residents of the town. If the owners, keepers or harborers of such dogs are not residents of the town in which the damage has been done, the town paying the damage may recover such damage and compensation from the town or towns where such owners, keepers or harborers reside, unless such owners, keepers or harborers, or such town or towns, on notice, pay to the treasurer of the town which paid such damage the amount of such damage and compensation. Any town which is obliged to pay any such damage may recover the amount thereof from the owners, keepers or harborers of the dogs doing such damage.

      (c) When additional or increased damages are claimed to sheep, goats, horses, hogs, cattle, poultry or domestic rabbits, which damages were not apparent at, and accrued subsequent to, the first appraisal of damage, a supplemental notice of such claim for additional damage may be given to such authority at any time within thirty days from the discovery of the original damage. The supplemental notice of claim shall set forth the facts upon which such claim is based. The claim shall be made to such authority and shall be acted upon in the manner provided in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

      (d) Any authority who has received notice pursuant to the provisions of this section and within a period of fifteen days after receiving such notice, fails to estimate the amount of such damage, or if such authority is unable, within a period of five days, to agree with the person claiming to have sustained such damage as to the amount thereof, or fails to agree with such person on a disinterested third person to assist in estimating such damage, or if such authority and such person agree on such disinterested third person and two of such three persons fail to agree as to the amount of such damage, the person who claims to have sustained damage may institute a civil action against the town in which the damage was sustained for the recovery of such damage. No such action shall be maintained unless brought within one year from the date the damage was sustained.

      (e) When the selectmen, town manager or other chief executive officer of the town receives notice from any person claiming to have sustained damage by dogs to his sheep, goats, horses, hogs, cattle, poultry or domestic rabbits in excess of one hundred dollars, such authority shall, within twenty-four hours, report the same to the commissioner for investigation and shall call upon the commissioner or his agent to act for the town in appraising the damage as provided in subsections (a), (b), (c) and (d) of this section. The fact that said commissioner or his agent has acted for such authority shall not bar an action for the recovery of the damage as provided in subsection (d) of this section.

      (f) Sheep, goats, horses, hogs, cattle, poultry and domestic rabbits shall be confined or shall be enclosed by a fence or wall of material and height sufficient to restrain them from roaming. In any case in which any town has paid an amount in excess of one hundred dollars for such damage to the owner of any such animal or poultry, and the amount of such damage cannot be collected from the owners, keepers or harborers of such dogs, the selectmen, town manager or other chief executive officer of such town, city or borough shall forward to the commissioner a statement of the facts, showing the amount so paid, and the State Treasurer, at the request of the commissioner, shall reimburse such town, city or borough for the amount of such damage, from the funds received by the state under the provisions of this chapter.

      (1949 Rev., S. 3402; 1953, S. 1840d; 1963, P.A. 613, S. 26; 1971, P.A. 74, S. 1, 2; P.A. 85-145, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-10, S. 11, 20; P.A. 93-435, S. 54, 95; P.A. 01-62, S. 5; P.A. 05-288, S. 91, 92.)

      History: 1963 act replaced references to selectmen with references to chief administrative officer or authority, clarified when report must be made if Sunday or holiday prevents meeting of 24-hour limit and specifically disallowed claims by persons whose employee lives on premises and keeps unlicensed dog or by those not meeting time limit allowed for claims, included damages to poultry and domestic rabbits in Subsec. (c), deleted Subsec. (d) which had allowed issuance of order to kill dog if established damage claim not paid within 10 days of notice to dog owner, relettering remaining Subsecs. accordingly, changed time limit for reports to commissioner in new Subsec. (e) to within 48 hours rather than 5 days and made commissioner's appraisal mandatory rather than optional; 1971 act stated that burden of proof is on claimant in Subsec. (a) and in Subsec. (e) made basis for report to commissioner any damage to sheep, goats, horses, etc. rather than a claim for more than $50 and reduced time for report from 48 to 24 hours; P.A. 85-145 amended Subsec. (f) by deleting obsolete references to the payment of expenses for Pasteur treatment; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-10 amended Subsecs. (e) and (f) to limit the state's responsibility under this section to those matters involving damage in excess of $100; P.A. 93-435 made certain technical and grammatical revisions, effective June 28, 1993; P.A. 01-62 amended Subsec. (f) to give the Commissioner of Agriculture control over reimbursements to towns for damage, deleting or revising provisions re State Treasurer; P.A. 05-288 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (c), effective July 13, 2005.

      What is sufficient notice to selectmen. 37 C. 467. Only actual damage not to exceed the amount paid may be recovered by a town. 48 C. 335. Provision for recovery from town held valid as a police regulation. Id., 335-337. Nature of obligation on the part of the town created by the statute. 59 C. 531; 62 C. 107. The bona fide estimate of damages is conclusive against the resident sustaining the damage. 62 C. 106. "Owner" defined. 74 C. 85. All steps in statute must be strictly followed. 86 C. 568; 108 C. 156; 133 C. 289. Estimate made by sheep owner and selectman inoperative under former statute. 108 C. 158. No right to recover regardless of commissioner's approval, where such appraisal is a condition precedent to recovery. 133 C. 288.

      Section is applicable only to damage caused by dogs and cannot be read to require that horses be fenced in. 85 CA 627.

      A claimant who is not satisfied with the award need not accept it but may seek his remedy against the persons owning or keeping the dogs. 14 CS 98.