It's illegal to educate dogs in Hartford, according to the Hartford Courier. This raises a lot of interesting questions, such as, for instance, does training your dog count as educating them? Perhaps the law specifically was enacted to keep dogs from being educated in the art of mauling, pooping in your neighbor's yard, or barking at the mailman. Whatever the intention, it's not in the animal section of the town's code of ordinances today (via Municode Library), so maybe the rule is outdated or simply an urban legend.

But if it really does exist, and is perhaps tucked away in some early town charter, here's one theory: The last thing Hartford wants is for dogs to start reading Rousseau, write some tracts on the "Rights of Dogs," begin holding meetings about their despot owners, etc. It isn't clear if there is a similar rule about cats, so perhaps the government already assumes they're a lost cause; they already know too much.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCDkmlwcWpfrLKqvsOeqq1lnJbEtHnIp2Scp56jsqTAyJysrWc%3D