New Canaan Police this month issued a $75 nuisance dog fine to a Pound Ridge, N.Y. family after their Newfoundland attacked a town man while off-leash on a nature preserve—the second time in one year that the same canine injured the very same man.
The first incident occurred last June, when the neutered male Newfie lunged at the man while he was on his bike in the Watson-Symington Preserve off of Wellesley Road, and bit him on the right leg above the knee, according to Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm.
The Newfie, now 5, had been leashed at the time, Halm said.
On Sunday, May 1, the same town resident had been walking his own dog in the same nature preserve when the off-leash Newfie came toward them, she said.
“He grabs his dog to get it out of harm’s way and picks it up and turns his back” and is injured on both shoulders, Halm said, either scratched or bitten.
Dogs are allowed off-leash, under certain conditions, before noon in the Watson-Symington Preserve, according to the New Canaan Land Trust’s website. “We allow dogs to be off-leash from sunrise to noon, provided that dogs are under strict voice control, stay on-trail, and stay within 25 feet of their human,” the organization says on its website.
The recent incident occurred after noon, Halm said. The first citation for nuisance dog carries a $75 fine, the second requires a court appearance, she said.