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

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. Gilbert indicated that she has been working with ‘Kady’ and that ‘Kady’ does get along with most of the dogs at the park.”

Halm said she advised Gilbert that Kady was becoming “increasingly territorial” of Spencer’s Run and that “there have been rumored concerns that Kady’s behavior was escalating.”

Ultimately, the matter was discussed with the chairperson of the volunteer Spencer’s Run Committee, Kit Devereaux, and it was “recommended that the Gilbert dog not be allowed back to the dog park,” the report said.

“I contacted Gilbert and advised her that it was determined in the best interests of all dog park members Kady no longer utilize the park,” the report said.

Halm added: “It should be noted that I explained to Gilberg that it was inappropriate for her to request park members to wait until she secured Kady before they could enter the park.”

Gilbert’s code to Spencer’s Run was deactivated, the report said.

Both dogs involved in the scuffle are licensed with up-to-date vaccinations, police said.

Gilbert has had run-ins at Spencer’s Run in the past (as well as multiple arrests on motor vehicle-related charges, Connecticut Judicial Branch records show). According to Halm’s report, there was “an unconfirmed incident” reported in December, and one year before that, she directed profanity and threats toward police, and disobeyed officers’ instructions to leave the dog park for the day following a skirmish involving Kady.