‘A Happy Ending’: Dog Dumped in New Canaan Finds Forever Home

A young dog that apparently had been dumped last month on a cul-de-sac near the Country Club of New Canaan has found her forever home, officials say.

Before the rescue. Photo courtesy of New Canaan Animal Control

Residents of the area started reporting sightings of the skittish dog to Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm on April 8, the Saturday of Easter weekend, she said.

“No one could get near it,” Halm told NewCanaanite.com. “It would run just at the sight of them.”

The dog could be seen lying at the end of various driveways in the neighborhood, but as soon as anyone approached, she would bolt. Seeking to get the animal into a routine, Halm set up feed bowls and a trail camera, and found that the dog was emptying them regularly. After about one week, Halm set up a large Hav-a-Heart trap.

“The neighbors were concerned and I assured them that the process was going to work,” Halm said. “I just needed time.”

The Hav-a-Heart trap method worked after a few days. Photo courtesy of New Canaan Animal Control

After a few days, Halm managed to secure the dog, which she named “Indi.” She also arranged to bring Indy to Greenwich Animal Control, a facility that has a full-time staff seven days a week.

Estimated to be about 10 months old, Indy was emaciated but friendly, Halm said. 

“The reason I believe she was abandoned there was because she never left the area and there were no reports of a roaming pit bull prior to her sightings,” Halm said. “I have experienced this in the past. Dogs stay where they were dumped.”

At Greenwich Animal Control, “as we’re pulling out the traps so we can close the door, she turns around and starts wagging her tail and she just got all wiggly,” she said.

“She turned out to be a really sweet dog,” Halm said. 

The kennel attendant at Greenwich Animal Control “was able to treat her immediately for ticks because she was covered head to toe, her ears, everything covered in ticks,” she added.

After administering a rabies vaccination and publicizing the found dog, as required by state law, Indy became available for adoption and was taken in immediately by the same kennel attendant at Greenwich Animal Control, a Fairfield County resident, Halm said.

“He knew right away,” she said. “They bonded.”

Halm herself is on track to retire in July. Asked about the overall experience, she said, “It was an ordeal for sure, because my career is in the rearview mirror. This is something that in 20 years I had only done once with dogs. I did it a million times with cats. So it was just sort of unprecedented for me. In my position to have to plan this out and set the trap and prepare it all with the cameras and just really make it work. And it did. I’m very pleased that it was a happy ending all the way around.”