Two skunks were caught in animal traps, one of which had to be euthanized, this week. (more…) Continue Reading →
Two Skunks Unintentionally Caught in Traps
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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.
Recent Articles
Police Investigate Evicted New Canaan Woman’s Reported Neglect, Abuse of Bird and Dog
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A woman while being evicted from her New Canaan apartment for failure to pay rent appears to have kept a bird and dog inside the unit for several days at a time without contacting or arranging for the care of the animals, records show. Police working to ensure the animals’ welfare observed that a cockatiel-type bird appeared to have been left on its own for a full week in mid- to late-July with limited seed and water that had run out while its owner—tenant Juliana Weitz—was away, according to a New Canaan Police Department incident reports obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information request. According to the property’s owner, a black poodle also had been left on its own in a crate in the bathroom for four days once before, the police reports said. During the investigation, while checking on the welfare of the bird, the head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section spotted the dog through the door of the apartment, wearing a black Velcro-type muzzle that appeared to prevent the animal from taking in water, panting or yawning. Subsequently, the property’s owner told authorities that Weitz left her apartment “for long periods of time, leaving the dog in the apartment and that the dog has begun howling,” according to a report from Officer Allyson Halm, head of Animal Control. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Animal 411, News, Our Animals, Allyson Halm, Animal Control, Jason Milligan, Juliana Palmer-Weitz, Juliana Weitz
New Canaan Police Officer, Veterinarian Save Overheating Bulldog Found Roaming Downtown
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The diligence and care of a police officer and local veterinarian last week likely saved the life of a young bulldog who got off-property in downtown New Canaan on an afternoon that saw temperatures soar toward 100 degrees. Around 3:49 p.m. on July 21—a Friday—Police Officer Andrea Alexander responded to a report of a roaming dog lying in a residential driveway on the south side of Locust Avenue, according to an incident summary report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information request. A Forest Street woman 52, told Alexander that the young animal had been following them and “that the dog seemed to be overheating and they tried to give him water but he wouldn’t take it,” the report said. “I found the dog to be a young male English bulldog and he was having issues breathing from the excessive heat. I had a leash and he came with me to my car and I was able to get him into the back area. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Animal 411, News, Our Animals, Andrea Alexander, Animal Control, Daniel Hochman, Grove Street Veterinary, New Canaan Police Department
Teenage Girl to Police: My Boss’s Poodle Bit Me
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New Canaan Police recently investigated an 18-year-old Stamford woman’s claim that her employer’s dog bit her in the leg—only to discover following multiple interviews that the complainant had been fired from her job and could produce no corroborating evidence of an attack. The teen couldn’t recall the exact date of the Jelliff Mill Road incident when she contacted the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section late last month, according to an incident report obtained by New Canaanite following a Freedom of Information Act request. Yet in speaking to the woman on June 19, Officer Allyson Halm said in the report, she “related that as she was walking into a gated area toward her office door, at the dog owner’s residence, five dogs came towards her and as she attempted to enter the office door one dog described as a poodle named ‘Jake’ bit her on the back of her left calf.”
The teen said she’d been alone at the time and no one was in the office, but that she texted her co-worker about it straightaway, according to the report. The complainant further said that she would forward a photo of her injury to Halm as well as the text message she’d sent to the co-worker, to establish the date of the incident. Halm then contacted the dog’s owner to confirm that ‘Jake’ was up-to-date on his rabies shots (he was) and relayed what the teen had said, according to the incident report. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Animal 411, News, Our Animals, Allyson Halm, Animal Control
New Canaan Police, Wilton Vet Aid Mead Park Snapping Turtle with Fishhook Caught in Its Mouth
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New Canaan Police and a Wilton-based veterinary group this weekend worked together to ensure the safety of a large snapping turtle at Mead Pond that had a fishhook caught in its mouth. At about 12:40 p.m. on Saturday, the police department’s Animal Control section received a flurry of calls regarding a large snapping turtle in the middle of Richmond Hill Road, according to Officer Diane Apicelli. Arriving, Apicelli said she found a crowd gathering around a 33-pound snapping turtle with an 18-inch long shell. Police Officer Dave Rivera was directing motor vehicle traffic around the turtle that clearly had a fishing lure caught in its mouth, according to Apicelli, of the Animal Control section. She crated the turtle and transported the reptile to South Wilton Veterinary Group, which “has a wonderful ‘exotic animal’ veterinarian on staff,” Apicelli said. Continue Reading →