Animal 411

Report: ‘Mouse Infestation’ at Animal Shelter; No Fire Alarms, Smoke Detectors or Security Cameras at Facility

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There are no fire alarms or smoke detectors in the New Canaan Animal Shelter, which has a mice infestation, documents show. There also are no security cameras at the Animal Shelter, which was shuttered last month following a fire whose cause hasn’t been determined, according to a fire investigator’s report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

Located in a former incinerator building at the Lakeview Avenue Transfer Station, a complex informally known as “the dump,” the Animal Shelter has been offline since a fire that was discovered at about 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 20. There were no animals in the building at the time and no one was injured. The shelter itself has had several ongoing problems, according to information contained in an incident report filed by Assistant Chief Russ Kimes, who was tapped by the Fire Department to conduct an investigation. 

Used primarily to house dumped, lost or abused dogs and cats, the shelter “does not have a monitored fire alarm system, and also does not have any local smoke detectors,” Kimes said in the report.

Animal 411

Ex’s Dog Quarantined After Bite

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An intact male Saint Bernard mix, 3, underwent a 10-day quarantine at the New Canaan Animal Shelter after biting someone, records show. Officers were dispatched at about 7:13 p.m. on Feb. 11 (a Wednesday) to a Valley Road home on a report of a dog bite, according to a case report filed by Officer Austin Malizia and obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. According to the redacted report, the victim told police that before school that day, wearing “many layers of clothing” because of the cold, they were playing with a dog who then, later, “thought that [the victim] was ‘coming at him’ and ‘jumped up and bit him,’ ” Malizia said in the report. Police documented the victim’s injuries on their right arm, the report said.

Animal 411

New Canaan Animal Shelter Offline After Fire on Friday

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New Canaan’s animal shelter is out-of-use following a fire last week, officials say. Located at the Transfer Station, the shelter building had no animals in it at the time of the fire, according to Officer Sean Godejohn, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. The fire was reported at 12:40 p.m. on Feb. 20. “As of right now the shelter is not being used until the smoke damage is cleaned,” Godejohn told NewCanaanite.com.

Animal 411

Bulldog Bites Cosmetics Worker in the Face

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A New Canaan dog underwent 10-day home quarantine this month after biting an employee at a cosmetics boutique in the face, records show. At about 10:15 a.m. on Feb. 4 (a Wednesday), Officer Sean Godejohn, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section, received a call from dispatch regarding a dog bite, according to a case report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

He contacted the victim, a 34-year-old Hamden woman, who told him that she was at work, at Benefit Cosmetics Boutique on Elm Street, when at about 10 a.m. “a client walked in with her dog.”

The worker “reached down to give the dog a treat when she was bit on the lip,” the incident report said. She was on her way to receive medical treatment for the injury at the time of Godejohn’s call, he said in the report. Within one hour, Godejohn visited the dog’s owner, a Seminary Street resident, who “admitted to this officer that her dog bit [the woman],” the report said.

Animal 411

PHOTOS: ‘Very Uncommon’ Bald Eagle Sighting in New Canaan

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A bald eagle—national bird and symbol of the United States—appeared high up in a tree overlooking South Avenue across from the New Canaan YMCA last week. The sighting of the bird of prey, at about 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, is “very uncommon,” according to Officer Sean Godejohn, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. “New Canaan lacks large rivers and reservoirs like the Housatonic,” Godejohn told NewCanaanite.com when asked about the bird. “But their populations are increasing and they will move more inland to suburban habitats as their populations increase. Eagles are occasionally reported in Fairfield County, especially during winter when migrants from the north bolster the population.”

Several residents noticed and photographed the bald eagle, including from the Y lot, as the bird faced west toward New Canaan Figh School.