Allyson Halm

VIDEO: New Canaan Animal Control, Firefighters Rescue Orphaned Raccoons

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[Video courtesy of the New Canaan Fire Department.]

New Canaan firefighters and the head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section on Wednesday morning rescued orphaned raccoons from a Main Street residence, officials said. A homeowner phoned Animal Control on Tuesday night to report the baby raccoons crying on her property, and the following morning found that one of the three young animals was on the ground while two others were stuck up in a tree, officials said. Their mom likely had been struck and killed by a car, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of Animal Control. As per the instructions on Animal Control’s after-hours voicemail, the homeowner brought the baby raccoon she found to Weston-based nonprofit organization Wildlife In Crisis. A second one of the babies fell from the tree as firefighters arrived at the scene Wednesday morning, according to Halm.

Animal 411

Unwanted Dog: Residents Mislead Police About Ownership of Pit Bull

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Police last month took custody temporarily of an out-of-state dog about whose ownership a Smith Ridge Road family misled authorities. 

An individual at 119 Smith Ridge Road initially led Animal Control to believe that a pit bull in her garage had been found, officials said. The dog was said by the reporting party to be aggressive, according to an incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information Act request. 

Yet when police arrived at the home on the morning of April 11 to pick up the dog, they were told that the animal belonged to a man living there, Gilberto Constanza-Retana. He told police that his own brother—Francisco Retana, who lived in Brewster, N.Y.—had advised that the dog could no longer stay at the Smith Ridge Road home because the animal was a threat to children in the house, the incident report said. Further, Constanza-Retana told police that he was sick and could not care for the dog. 

That brother, Retana, arrived and repeated what Constanza-Retana had said, according to the report. At the request of police officers, Retana then transported the dog to the New Canaan Veterinary Hospital, the report said.

Animal 411

Silvermine Road Dog Gets Loose Downtown, Bites Woman’s Hand

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New Canaan Police this month issued a verbal warning to a Silvermine Road woman whose dog jumped out of her SUV after she parked at a store downtown and, while roaming, bit a person trying to secure the animal. The events unfolded during what investigators determined to be an approximately 10-minute period on a Friday afternoon, and led to the victim receiving medical treatment for bite wounds to her hand, according to police incident reports obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information Act request. Though the owner realized the beast had gotten loose moments after parking in the lot at Weed & Duryea on Grove Street—surveillance video later reviewed by police showed her chasing after the “medium sized brownish looking dog,” the incident report said—the woman told authorities she didn’t realize her pet bit anyone while roaming for 10 minutes, after which time the video showed her putting the animal back in the car. The incident occurred at about 9:45 a.m. on March 29, according to the police report. The victim, a 21-year-old woman, didn’t tell police about it until the following day, after which time her hand had become severely swollen and she went to see a doctor, officials said.

Allyson Halm

0684-Radi0: Wild Springtime in New Canaan

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free weekly podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section, about what residents should expect from local wildlife, now that spring has arrived in earnest. This installment of 0684-Radi0 is sponsored by the New Canaan Land Trust, a nationally accredited land trust working to protect and steward open space in our community. Join the New Canaan Land Trust at its upcoming Arbor Day Celebration at the Silvermine-Fowler Preserve, from 1 to p.m. on Sunday, April 28, for a native plant workshop, guided walk, and family-friendly scavenger hunt. Here are some recent past episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Allyson Halm

Police: Coyote Killed Beacon Hill Lane Dog

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Saying a coyote killed a small-breed dog in New Canaan last week, authorities are urging residents to be careful about leaving their pets outside unattended. The remains of a terrier let out back of a Beacon Hill Lane home on the night of March 6 were found the following morning after the animal did not return home with another dog that had been let out, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. Clearly defined canine tracks led to the deceased dog’s body in the woods, she said. Halm said that coyotes are a fact of life in this area and that a lifestyle change on the part of residents is required to co-exist with them. “Our guard cannot be down,” Halm said.