>I found it absolutely shocking since you can’t have dogs off leash anywhere in public except designated areas.

That is entirely untrue.

Neither Vermont nor Hartland requires leashes in public areas. Hartland requires that a dog not "run at large" which means a dog that is none of the following:

> A. On a leash;

>B. In a vehicle;

>C. On the owner’s property;

>D. On the property of another person with that person's permission;

>E. Under the verbal or nonverbal control of the owner; or

>F. Hunting with the owner.

Specifically, these people probably felt their dogs were under "verbal or nonverbal control" despite the fact that the clearly weren't, and that they were required to be leashed in this area anyway.

I'm sorry for that.