A Labrador retriever mixed-breed dog is under a 2-week quarantine at home after biting a neighborhood boy in the hand, officials say.
New Canaan Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm. Photo by Mackenzie Lewis
The child, an elementary school age boy who lives on Lakeview Avenue, had been walking past the 7-year-old female dog’s Millport Avenue home around 4 p.m. Saturday when he decided to greet the dog, according to a report on file with the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section.
The boy knew the dog, which was on its own property—on the porch, behind an invisible fence, the report said.
The animal bit the approaching boy’s hand, which—though it was punctured by the bite—did not require a hospital visit, according to Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm.
Nobody was home, though the boy felt he knew the dog well enough to visit, the report said.
State law requires biting dogs to undergo a 2-week quarantine (if the bite happens off-property, then the 14 days must be spent “off-site” such as at a veterinarian’s).
Halm said she always teaches people that they should never approach a dog and that hands should be “down and quiet” on meeting one.
“A dog should always approach you,” Halm said. “Your hands should be down and quiet until the dog has completely sniffed you out. No one should be reaching and assuming that the dog is OK, especially based on breed.”
Invisible fences are wrong on so many levels.
They’re inhumane for obvious reasons, if you think of your dog as a family member, as I do, you shouldn’t be okay with inflicting pain on your pets. This stupid technology teaches dogs to become more aggressive and reactive because they associate shock with anyone, in this case a friendly neighborhood boy, who approaches them from the street. It also teaches the dog, who may instinctively break through the “fence”, not to return because he will get shocked again. It does not protect the dog from other dogs or coyotes from coming on their turf. Pedestrians who may not know whether there is a fence, may feel threatened by an untethered barking dog. Finally, they don’t work, and you might not find out until your beloved dog is missing.
What’s more inhumane, a small short shock or the dog getting hit by a car if it runs on the road? I’ve had four dogs use the fence and they never even get close to it. The collars beep if they are getting close and they all back away immediately. We’ve had big dogs and little ones on the fence and have never had one break through (even the 90 pound hound). As a homeowner, you can put signs up saying you have the fence and that will alert other people who might feel free to walk onto others property.