Update 3 p.m.
This dog’s owner is in fact a St. John’s Place resident known to Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt, who returned the puppy there.
Original Article
A puppy spotted running at the busy, dangerous Main Street intersection by God’s Acre is in the care of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control unit after a harrowing downtown romp Tuesday afternoon.
This puppy took about 10 minutes to catch—it’s lucky Animal Control arrived, the dog was running back and forth across Main Street by God’s Acre. Credit: Michael Dinan
Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt said the puppy that she eventually secured at around 12:45 p.m.—a Lhasa Apso mix of some kind—might belong to a St. John’s Place resident.
“I’ll check for a microchip and bring him to the shelter,” Keinschmitt said.
New Canaan resident Millie Casinelli said she was driving when she spotted the dog running back and forth across Main Street just beyond Heritage Hill Road, and so she quickly contacted and picked up her sister-in-law to try and get the dog.
New Canaan Police Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt secured this Lhasa Apso mix puppy after it ran across Main Street more than once by God’s Acre, miraculously surviving despite nonstop traffic, on July 29, 2014. Credit: Michael Dinan
“I was petrified that he was going to get run over by a car, because people weren’t stopping at all, nobody was stopping for the dog,” Casinelli said.
By the time she picked up her sister-in-law, Kleinschmitt was on scene, having been notified about the roaming dog by Officer Richard Mercado, her assistant.
It took about 10 minutes to secure the dog, using biscuits and trying not to engage in a game of chase, Kleinschmitt said.
“It becomes a game if you chase it, so we just sit down and try to get it inland a little bit, so we don’t have to worry about the traffic,” she said.
NewCanaanite.com will update this article as more information becomes available. Animal Control can be reached at 203-594-3510.