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

Elm Street Poodle Re-Homed After Attacking Smaller Dogs Again

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A New Canaan poodle has been re-homed following a biting incident last weekend at a condo complex downtown, officials said. Long owned by an older woman who lives in Pride’s Crossing on Elm Street, the standard poodle on Saturday attacked a pair of leashed Havanese after bolting from its unit, according to a police report. One of the dogs sustained puncture wounds to its leg, according to Officer Allyson Halm of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. The same dog nine months ago similarly had gotten out of its home and attacked a small dog, according to Halm. Neighbors have said several other incidents have gone unreported, officials said. Continue Reading →

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

‘We Could Have Two Bears’: Black Bear Sightings Tuesday on Eastern, Western Sides of New Canaan

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Police say black bear sightings reported on opposite sides of New Canaan Tuesday could represent two different bears—the most recent sign that the species increasingly is making its home here and in surrounding towns. The first report came in before 8 a.m. from a woman who heard a bear growling in the woods off of Rosebrook Road on the east side of town, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. A few hours later, sightings were reported on the west side of town, on Sherwood Lane and Wellesley Drive, Halm said. “We could have two bears,” she said. “There were no reports of a bear crossing 123 or 124, and the first bear was reported as being huge” while the second one wasn’t. Continue Reading →

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

Louie the Bernese Mountain Dog: A Puppy at Heart

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In this installment of “New Canine-ites,” featuring profiles of local dogs, we speak to town resident Bella Doré about Louie, an instantly lovable Bernese Mountain Dog. Passing him mid-walk playing in his yard, it was impossible not to fall in love with Louie, who is essentially an enormous puppy. “Louie is definitely very loving,” Doré said. “He will do anything and everything he can to be as humanly close to you as possible. If you’re sitting down he will jump up and give you a hug—literally.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: New Canine-ites, News, Our Animals

Police: Owner of Dog, Subject of Neglect Investigation, Nonresponsive to New Complaints of Roaming

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Already at the center of a recently closed neglect investigation, a Devonwood Lane dog has been getting off-property and roaming his neighborhood, according to police. The repeated roaming incidents came to a head recently when members of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section came upon the young Bernese Mountain Dog while following up on a separate incident on Devonwood, according to a police report obtained by NewCanaanite.com following a Freedom of Information request. At about 2:30 p.m. on July 13—a Thursday—Officer Allyson Halm, the head of Animal Control, returned a different dog who had somehow got off-property and roamed to a neighboring street back to its Devonwood Lane home, according to the incident report. “While on the property a Bernese Mt. Dog came bounding up to me, at which time [a neighbor] indicated it was a neighborhood dog that was always loose,” according to Halm’s statement in the report. Continue Reading →

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

New Canaan Residents Report Finding Seven Bats in Bedrooms

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Residents reported finding seven bats in the bedrooms of local homes last week, according to officials in the Animal Control section of the New Canaan Police Department. Five of the bats were located and sent to a lab in Rocky Hill, but two could not be found upon the arrival of a professional, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the section. Three of the five bats found tested negative for rabies, and results for the remaining two are pending, she said. The families living in the homes where the bats could not be located for euthanization and testing are going through their rabies vaccines, Halm said. “You don’t know how long the bat’s been in the house,” Halm said. Continue Reading →

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