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.

Animal 411

Two Adult Dogs Up for Adoption

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Two adult male dogs are now adoptable from an elderly Stamford man who can no longer care for them due to his own health issues. RayBan is a 10-year-old Great Pyrenees mix:

Rescued by current owner in 2017 in North Carolina;
Neutered;
Friendly, non-aggressive, no biting history, gets along with dogs and people including children;
Healthy, vaccinated and licensed (see patient chart here from Bull’s Head Animal Hospital in Stamford). Duncan is a 5-year-old Bearded Collie:

Purebred, AKC champion;
Neutered, no offspring;
Biting history: bit former owner on the hand while resource-guarding toys. Has never bitten a child. Friendly with other dogs.

Animal 411

Dog Bites Woman, 87, at Waveny House

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A German shepherd dog about 10 days ago bit an 87-year-old Ridgefield woman at Waveny House, records show. 

At about 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 22, the victim called Animal Control Officer Sean Godejohn to report a bite that had occurred earlier that Friday, according to an incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. At about 10 a.m., the woman “was bit by a dog at Waveny House,” Godejohn wrote in his report. The victim “told this officer that there were two German shepherds at Waveny House and one of them bit her left thigh,” the report said. The dogs “were accompanied by two males in their twenties, and an older female,” it said.

Homepage Featured

Dog Bites Child on Hillcrest Avenue

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[The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates.]
New Canaan Police cited and fined a local woman this month after her dog was accused of running off-property and biting a boy. At around 8:15 a.m. on July 3 (a Thursday), an officer met with a New Canaan man after his son had been bit by a “one year old, black, male Labrador Retriever mix type dog”, according to an incident report written by Animal Control Officer Sean Godejohn and obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. The boy’s father told Officer Nicole Vartuli that the incident occurred on Hillcrest Avenue, “when a dog came off the property and bit his son, leaving a scratch on his left arm,” the report said. According to the report, the dog’s owner told Vartuli and Godejohn that her dog left her property and jumped on the victim, but doesn’t believe the animal bit him. The dog, “Beau,” has been “vaccinated for rabies with New Canaan Veterinary Hospital until July 25,” Godejohn’s report said.

New Canaan Police Department

Dog Bites Woman in Waveny Park

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New Canaan Police recently responded to a dog bite of a 52-year-old woman in Waveny Park. At about 4:40 p.m. on June 28, New Canaan Police Department officers were dispatched to Waveny on a report of a dog bite injury to a Norwalk woman, according to an incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. Through a man nearby who was able to translate, the police learned that the woman had been strolling on the east side of the park, near Anderson Pond, when she walked near two older men with a “big white dog,” the report said. The dog had been on a leash but was not contained and bit the woman’s left arm, the incident report said. After being bitten, the victim walked to her vehicle in the parking lot near the girls softball field and contacted the police, according to the report.