A medium-sized dog that appears to be a shepherd mix wandered onto a Smith Ridge Lane property at about 3 p.m. Friday and now is in the care of the New Canaan Police Department as officials try to locate its owner.
Here’s the roaming Wilton dog again. Marianna Mercede of New Canaan secured her in her SUV with a belt and brought her to New Canaan Police on July 25. Credit: Michael Dinan
The dog, a sweet-tempered female that’s very comfortable around adults and kids, appears to have a Wilton license tag on its collar and a microchip tracking tag, though it isn’t clear whether any owner information is on the collar.
Marianna Mercede of New Canaan was at her mother’s house when she walked outside and came upon the dog as it was playing on the lawn with her daughter and some friends.
Mercede said there was no question about whether she would bring the dog to police straightaway in hopes of returning the animal to its owner.
Marianna Mercede, Erica Mercede and Andrea Sandi with the dog that wandered onto the Smith Ridge Lane property of Marianna’s mother-in-law on July 25. Here they are bringing the animal to the New Canaan Police Department in hopes of reuniting it with its owner. Credit: Michael Dinan
“Of course not, because she might run into the street or something,” she said as she handed the dog off to police on Friday afternoon. “Especially since it [the license tag] says she’s from Wilton, so she may have come a long way.”
Police said the owner can phone the department’s main number at 203-594-3000 to reclaim the dog. She’ll go to the town’s animal shelter up at the Lakeview Avenue Transfer Station until then, officers said.
Marianna’s daughter Erica, 8, an East School student, and friend Andrea Sandi of Norwalk, 9, a Fox Run School student who has a French poodle named Luna (nearly one year old), said the dog appeared on their lawn and immediately walked toward a pond. The girls said they put down a bowl of water but “he didn’t want it.”
“He ate a lot of bread or something,” Erica said.
Asked to describe the animal’s personality, Andrea said: “He likes to lay down and stare at the lawn.”
Erica added: “He likes to run a lot because when we walked him, he always wanted to run instead of walk.”