GRANBY — A new animal control bylaw approved by the Select Board would impose stricter leash and nuisance laws for all domestic and personally-owned animals, from dogs and cats to ferrets and horses.

The decision to revamp the laws came in the wake of resident Karl Lindberg’s recounting how an unleashed dog attacked his wife, Nicole Remy, at Dufresne Park earlier this year. Lindberg noticed that the leash laws were very general and not easily enforceable, as they only require a dog to have recall and be within eyesight of the owner whether on or off leash.

The board agreed to examine the leash law and the animal control bylaw as a whole.

Based on recommendations from Animal Control Officer Kimberly Goldsmith and lengthy conversation between board members, Granby’s new leash law would require all domestic animals, which included dogs, cats and ferrets, to be leashed on public property with a lead no longer than 10 feet and held by “by a person who has the ability, knowledge and experience to fully control the animal.”

“My kids don’t walk my dogs just because they are strong dogs and if someone comes out of the trail and they have a little poodle, I can’t promise that my big labs aren’t going to drag my kids over to them,” Goldsmith said.

There are four exceptions to the leash law: when a pet is at a fenced dog park, when a pet is on the owner’s private property, when the pet is on another person’s private property and has permission to be off leash and when a pet is actively hunting, working or competing in a dog show.

Residents will vote to approve or deny the new leash law at the next Town Meeting.

“I think we’re making a big step from no leash right now to having a leash law,” Select Board Member Glenn Sexton said. “We’re going from actually having control over a dog versus not actually having contact control.”

Sexton and Select Board Member Crystal Dufresne noted that the law cannot allow children or adolescents who cannot control the dog to walk a pet.

The members agreed that strength is an important factor in dog walking, but so too is competence.

“If a child is walking a dog alone, I think that that responsible party still needs to be an adult,” Select Board member Dave LaBonte said. “If you know your dog is 100 pounds or 120 pounds, they’re pretty strong. (They) easily drag a child 7 feet, but a competent adult should know that could happen.”

However, Sexton didn’t like the term “competent adult” because it prohibits responsible teenagers from walking pets in public, nor does it define competence. The goal of the law, Sexton said, is to put responsibility of the dog and residents safety on the dog owner, rather than restricting dog owners from making their own judgment calls about their pets.

“We should be putting all the ownership on the owner of the dog, not on the dog,” he said.

Goldsmith and Dufresne initially requested the leash law limit leads to no longer than 6 feet, a standard leash length, but with such a short leash length, retractable leashes would also be outlawed.

“Let’s say you have a 10-foot leash and two dogs get into a fight,” Goldsmith said. “How quickly are you going to be able to intervene at 10 feet versus 6 feet?”

Sexton thought the limit was too restrictive, but agreed that leashes for dogs deemed dangerous should be no longer than 6 feet.

When discussing dog behavior that qualifies as a public nuisance, such as barking late at night or running after a pedestrian, the board realized that other animals, like cats and barn animals, also can disturb the public’s peace. Town Administrator Christopher Martin used the horses who walk the trails at Dufresne Park as an example.

“People will ride their horses over the ball field,” he said. “They defecate, and then the kids go out and play Little League games and they have to deal with horse manure on the field.”

Goldsmith and Dufresne questioned the ability to enforce cleaning up horse poop, which often involves getting off the horse and hauling a bucket home. Sexton, however, said property owners do not want to clean up after another person’s horse.

“If it happens in the street, that’s a public way,” he said. “Granby is responsible for that. But private property, that’s something different.”

Ultimately, the board decided to expand nuisance laws, specifically the laws against pooping on private property, to all personally-owned animals to cover horses, ferrets and pigs who might enter a public space or another person’s private property.

The board will review the draft of the new bylaw at its next meeting, leaving time for residents to review the bylaw for the Town Meeting vote.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.