Animal 411

New Canaan Dog Banned from Spencer’s Run After Yet Another Attack

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Town officials have banned a New Canaan dog with a history of aggression from Spencer’s Run after the beast attacked a fellow canine there last month, documents show. The most recent incident involving ‘Kadydid’ or just ‘Kady,’ a 40- to 50-pound border collie-Australian shepherd mix, unfolded on the morning of Feb. 28 (a Wednesday), according to a police incident report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information Act request. After initially berating and hanging up on the head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section, a woman with a Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel and poodle mix) named ‘Bandit’ phoned Officer Allyson Halm back and explained that as she entered Spencer’s Run, she spotted another woman “holding a dog by the collar near the gate entrance.”

The complainant “asked the woman if her dog [Kady] would be OK with her [own] dog and the woman answered yes,” the report said. Yet after entering and walking away from Kady, that dog once released “ran toward Bandit and attacked him.”

The victim dog’s owner was “extremely upset,” according to Halm’s report and “after a brief exchange, the woman left the park with the offending dog.”

Kady’s owner, Helen Gilbert, told police during an interview that Kady “will become assertive when new dogs enter the park” and that she “will ask those people to wait before entering so she can leash her dog.”

“Gilbert further related that she did not have time to leash her dog when this new dog entered, at which time ‘Kady’ went after the new dog.

Around Town

Parks Officials: 504 People with 701 Dogs Now Registered for Spencer’s Run, Mostly New Canaan

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In the fifth year since New Canaan began requiring canine owners to register their pets in order to use the dog run at Waveny, 504 people have done so, officials said this week. Currently, 701 dogs are registered for Spencer’s Run, according to Kit Devereaux, a member of the Parks & Recreation Commission who serves as a liaison to the popular facility located next to the paddle hut. New Canaanites account for about 56 percent of those with their dogs registered and Recreation Director Steve Benko “has a program that he set up that really is making a difference,” Devereaux said during a regular meeting of the commission, held Wednesday night at Lapham Community Center. “Dogs dig, as we all know, and then people complain. But Steve has—with dog park money—set up a program where someone comes in and fills the holes and seeds it.

Animal 411

‘The Male Was Not Responding’: Bit by Dog at Spencer’s Run, Woman Gets Angry with Nonchalant Owner

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Police this month fielded a complaint from a Norwalk woman who said she’d been bit at Spencer’s Run by a dog whose owner—a New Canaan man—failed to show sufficient concern. It happened on the evening of April 7 (a Friday) at the Waveny dog park, according to a police report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information request. According to a report from the head of the Animal Control section, Officer Allyson Halm, at about 5:30 p.m. the woman had been throwing a ball to her dog “when a white shepherd or husky-type dog came over to them and the two dogs began to fight.”

The woman started yelling and tried to break up the scrap, and told Halm that “the other dog’s owner was far away and didn’t seem to know what was going on,” the report said. Soon, the man—a Spring Water Lane resident—made his way over to secure his dog, and the woman instructed him to leave the park, as his dog had bitten her, the report said. Yet, according to the woman, “the male was not responding,” the report said.

Animal 411

‘Do You Know Who I Am?’: Rough Dog Play at Waveny Prompts Threats, Profanity from New Canaan Woman

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Some recent rough-play-turned-aggression between two dogs at Waveny led to a verbal confrontation and rather strong language from one New Canaan woman directed at a fellow Spencer’s Run user as well as police, officials say. No one was charged in the incident, though the 55-year-old local woman—owner of an approximately 40- to 50-pound border collie-Australian shepherd mix named ‘Katie’—appeared to hurl profanity and threats at police, and to disobey officers’ instructions to leave the dog park for the day, according to incident reports obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information request. The skirmish started around 10:50 a.m. on Nov. 5 (a Saturday), according to a report from an officer in the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section, when Katie became overly rough with a far smaller (10 pounds) golden doodle she’d been chasing. ‘Sunny,’ as the underdog is named, belongs to a 31-year-old Stamford man, the report said.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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A Darien-New Canaan tussle played out ahead of this week’s highly anticipated Turkey Bowl, and just a few football fields away from Dunning Stadium. At about 1 p.m. on Nov. 11, a 4-year-old miniature Australian shepherd from New Canaan attacked an 18-month-old Vizsla from Darien at Spencer’s Run, the dog park at Waveny. The local dog bit the puppy’s earflap and did enough damage to require stitching, according to a report on file with the Animal Control section of the New Canaan Police Department. “All in all, Spencer’s Run as a rule runs very, very smoothly,” said Officer Allyson Halm, head of Animal Control.