Animal 411

New Canaan Dog, ‘Romeo,’ Bites Woman’s Hand

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A New Canaan dog last week finished a home quarantine after biting a Norwalk woman on the hand, police records show. At about 1:34 p.m on Dec. 7 (a Sunday), officers were dispatched to the Intersection of New Norwalk and Brushy Ridge Roads on a report of a dog bite, according to an incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

There, they met with a Norwalk woman, 36, who told them she saw a loose dog “and went to attempt to help it,” according to the incident report, filed by Officer Nolen Heintz. “While she attempted to help the dog, the dog bit her on the right hand, drawing blood,” the report said. “The dog is described as a small black mixed-breed dog.

Animal 411

New Canaan Police Impound 10 Cats from Seminary Street Home

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New Canaan Police last week impounded 10 neglected cats from a Seminary Street home where the animals’ owner told authorities that kittens had died, records show. At midday on Oct. 27, a Monday, the owner of the two-family home and one tenant came to police to report “a large number of cats” living in poor conditions at the rental property, according to an incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. There were “cat feces all over the property inside and outside” and “the cats have fleas,” the property owner told police, according to the incident report, filed by Officer Sean Godejohn, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. There’s “a very strong cat urine smell inside the apartment,” the owner told police, and the neighbor said “he can smell the cat urine from inside his apartment next door,” Godejohn wrote in the report.

Animal 411

Six Kittens Re-Homed in Jelliff Mill Animal Neglect Case

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Six kittens found to be living in squalid conditions last month on Jelliff Mill Road have been re-homed, officials say. Over the past two years, the head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section saw conditions deteriorate at the Cape-style home located on Jelliff Mill near Ponus Ridge, according to a case report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

Animal Control Officer Sean Godejohn observed a “somewhat liveable condition” and “healthy” cats at the house on an initial visit in January 2024 and would go there “a number of times” over the subsequent months, according to an incident report he wrote Sept. 23. Yet the animals had never been brought to a veterinarian, he said, and in May of this year he received “an anonymous complaint for a number of cats living” in “horrible conditions” on the property, the case report said. During a site visit, Godejohn found that “[a] number of doors and windows were open to the home.”

“No one was home at this time,” he wrote.

Animal 411

Weed Street Dog Bites Uber Eats Driver

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A New Canaan dog underwent a home quarantine this month after biting an Uber Eats driver in the calves, records show. At about 5:33 p.m. on Oct. 1 (a Wednesday), the victim—a 40-year-old Stamford man—made an Uber Eats delivery for a “Susan G” at a Weed Street home, according to a New Canaan Police Department incident report obtained through a public records request. The man told police “that the instructions for the delivery stated that he should ring the bell upon arrival,” said the initial report, from Officer Giancarlo Vincenzi. After ringing the bell several times, “it appeared that nobody was home,” the report said, and just then “a medium sized dog with white fur approached him while barking loudly.”

The delivery driver tried to calm down the dog “and then felt some pressure on his calves,” the report said.

Animal 411

‘Do the Right Thing’: NCPD Animal Control Launches Positive-Reinforcement Leashed Dog Campaign

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The head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section is trying something new to encourage dog owners to observe leash laws: positive reinforcement. Based on a different NCPD program that saw the agency reward seatbelt-wearing motorists with gift cards, Animal Control Officer Sean Godejohn’s “Do the Right Thing” program soft-launched last month. “New Canaan Animal Control is now handing out gift cards and coupons to people keeping their dogs on leashes, thanks to generous donations from local businesses,” Godejohn told NewCanaanite.com. “Participating establishments include Pet Pantry, New Canaan Veterinarian Hospital, Club Sandwich and Spa Dogs. This effort not only supports our local economy and strengthens our community relations but also aims to ensure dogs remain leashed in parks.”

Godejohn said he regularly receives reports of off-leash dogs at New Canaan’s parks. 

At first, some of those receiving the rewards “were surprised” by Godejohn’s approach, “mistaking the interaction as a negative one,” he said.