Our Animals

This section is dedicated to all things concerning our New Canaan animals—pets, wildlife, environmental and health matters touching the animals of our town, activity out of the New Canaan Police Department Animal Control Unit, and more.

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Recent Articles

Police Issue Verbal Warning to Parks & Rec Commissioner with Dogs Off-Leash

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Police on Thursday issued a verbal warning to a New Canaan woman—and member of the town’s Parks & Recreation Commission—who had her dogs off-leash in a public park, records show. According to the daily log of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section, the incident occurred shortly after 10 a.m. at Conner Field. There, Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm spotted the woman and two dogs, a Ridgeback and Labrador, off-leash near the middle of the field, according to the log. Halm and the Animal Control as a standard issue verbal warnings to first-time offenders rather than tickets for allowing a dog to roam. Asked about the incident, Halm said she was “terribly disappointed.”

According to the daily log, the woman when confronted by authorities said she was training the animals. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Animal 411, News, Our Animals, Allyson Halm, Animal Control

New Canaan Dog Bites Child at First Presbyterian

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A New Canaan dog is out from under a two-week quarantine after biting a Darien girl last month, according to police. The incident—whose details the victim’s mother and dog’s owner disputed—occurred on a Tuesday at 178 Oenoke Ridge Road, according to a New Canaan Police Department incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information Act request. The address is the location of First Presbyterian Nursery School. At about 2 p.m. on May 8, the girl outside was petting a 6-year-old miniature Australian shepherd when the dog traveled to a grassy area and its owner called the animal back, the report said. The dog then ran toward the girl and the Darien woman who notified police of the incident heard the child cry out, according to the report. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Animal 411, News, Our Animals

Animal Control: It’s Deer Birthing Season, Don’t Touch the Fawns, They’re OK

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Animal Control officials are reminding residents that June is birthing season for deer and it’s not unusual to see fawns on their own around New Canaan. People should “leave fawns alone” as their mothers will leave an odorless, motionless baby up to seven hours when it’s too young to follow her, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. “We ask residents to not touch the fawn for 24 hours,” Halm said. “Ninety-nine percent are gone within that timeframe.”

Fawns typically weigh from four to eight pounds at birth and are under their mother’s care through September, when they’re weaned, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. “The number of young born ranges from one to four, depending upon the age and condition of the doe,” according to a DEEP factsheet. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Animal 411, News, Our Animals, Allyson Halm, Animal Control

‘They Are Very Fancy Donkeys’: Nature Center Plans New Barn for Donated Animals

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Town officials on Tuesday unanimously approved two items related to a proposed new barn at New Canaan Nature Center whose occupants will include four donkeys. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 on a pair of proposals, for the construction of the barn itself in Bliss Park as well as the merger of two parcels there into a single lot—a technical land use concern since the new structure will straddle them. Bill Flynn, the Nature Center’s executive director, said the Oenoke Ridge Road organization has been offered four donkeys by a local woman, “but we do not have the facilities currently to house them.”

Asked by the selectmen whether the animals currently live in a similar structure, Flynn said yes. “They are very fancy donkeys,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “They have a barn. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Animal 411, Government, News, Our Animals, Bill Flynn, Bliss Park, Kevin Moynihan, Kit Devereaux

Rosebrook Road Newfie Undergoes Quarantine After Attacking Dog Walker, Shih Tzu

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A Rosebrook Road dog is finishing up a quarantine at a Norwalk kennel this week, after running off of his property to attack a neighbor’s canine and that animal’s walker, according to police. It happened around 9 a.m. on a Sunday two weeks ago, as the walker turned off of Rosebrook Road and onto Amy’s Lane, according to an incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information Act request. The attacking dog, a Newfoundland named ‘Sasquatch,’ had barked in the past from behind the line of his electric fence when the smaller dog, a Shih Tzu named ‘Freddie,’ walked past, the report said. This time, Sasquatch “ran off the yard and attacked them in the street,” it said. “Freddie had blood on his fur and was limping on his right front leg,” the report said. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Animal 411, News, Our Animals, Allyson Halm, Animal Control, New Canaan Police Department