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.

Animal 411

Animal Calls: Dogs on Tennis Courts, Bobcat Sightings, Fox on St. John Place

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Here’s a roundup of recent activity of the Animal Control section of the New Canaan Police Department. ***

Animal Control issued a verbal warning to a Norwalk woman who had been letting two Akitas off-leash at the fenced-in tennis courts at New Canaan High School. The first complaint about it came in Feb. 4, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of Animal Control. A member of Spencer’s Run, the woman agreed to take the large-breed dogs there after receiving the warning.

Allyson Halm

Dog Attack on Avalon Drive East Results in Verbal Warning [UPDATED]

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New Canaan Police issued a verbal warning to the owners of two Avalon Drive East dogs after one of them (the dogs) bit a neighbor’s canine in the back. The head of the Police Department’s Animal Control section had a difficult time connecting with the owners of the attacking dog immediately after the incident on the afternoon of Jan. 16 (a Wednesday). 

The owner of the victim animal, a Brussels Griffon named ‘Enzo,’ told police that his son had been walking his own family’s two dogs outside their apartment complex when the attacking beast grabbed Enzo and began to shake him, according to an incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information request. The individual walking the attacking dog, described as a boy, could not control his own dogs and the skirmish left Enzo with a puncture wound in his back, police according to the report. When Officer Allyson Halm, the head of Animal Control, tried to get contact information for the attacking dog’s owners, a representative of Avalon’s business office told her he was not at liberty to provide it, the report said.