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.
“It should be noted that the dogs were playing, but Katie seemed to not know when to stop and kept getting rougher,” according to the Animal Control officer’s report. “Sunny’s owner … would try to get to the other side of the park but the moment his dog hit the ground Katie was on him. After about 15 minutes Katie pinned Sunny and he yelped, that is when Sunny’s owner stated ‘Can you please control your [expletive] dog’ and pulled Katie off of his dog.”
That’s when the local woman “became irate,” insisting that “ ‘your dog bit my dog,’ ” according to the report, and using profanity.
“The owners started going back and forth and I proceeded to ask [the woman] to leave the park, which she did while using profanity at me,” the Animal Control officer reported.
About 10 minutes later, the woman returned, still yelling profanity and saying, “Do you know who I am? I can get people to take care of you,” and left again, the report said. When the woman returned for a second time, the Animal Control officer called for backup.
A police officer and sergeant arrived, and the woman repeated, “His dog bit my dog,” the report said.
“I asked [the woman] if she would like me to look her dog over for any wounds and she accepted my offer,” the Animal Control officer said. “I checked her dog over and found no wounds or scratches. I made her aware that her dog had no injuries from what I could feel and see.”
The police officer then told the New Canaan woman to leave for the day, and she appeared to have done so. However, when the Stamford man himself went to leave, he advised authorities that the woman was waiting in the parking lot.
The woman then returned to Spencer’s Run with her beast, who played nicely with the others, the report said.
The woman then began to say, “ ‘Oh look my dog is being attacked, she [the Animal Control officer] isn’t doing anything about it, look my dog is being attacked,’ ” the report said. “I then plainly stated, ‘Ma’am your dog is playing rough, not being attacked.’ I then left the park as everything seemed to have clamed down.”
But the woman wasn’t done.
Ten days later, at about 1:28 p.m. on Nov. 15, she phoned Animal Control and left a voicemail asserting: “If her dog was the aggressor then why is her dog traumatized to play,” according to a police report.
According to Connecticut Judicial Branch records, the woman has had run-ins with the law in the recent past. She pleaded guilty in 2010, 2011 and 2013 to misdemeanor offenses including operating a motor vehicle while under suspension and evading responsibility, following arrests by police in Bridgeport, New Canaan and Norwalk, records show.
According to an incident report filed by the police officer who arrived at Spencer’s Run on the day of the incident, the woman claimed to have separated the dogs after their scrap, and that the Stamford man told her “no one likes her or her dog and to leave.”
To that the New Canaan woman answered “ ‘[Expletive] you’ and left,” the report said.
The Stamford man corroborated with police that he had told the woman no one likes her or Katie, and they both should leave Spencer’s Run, it said.
Spencer’s Run users must register with the town in order to get an access code to enter the dog park, and sign a waiver prior to approval. About two-thirds of those registered are non-residents, parks officials have said. They pay a higher per-dog fee than residents seeking to use Spencer’s Run.
Mike, can you check the rules and regulations for dog owners and their pets at Spencer’s Run? If profanity towards other pet owners isn’t one of them, it should be added.
Clearly, the woman and her pet need to be banned permanently.
Betty they’re here. There’s nothing in them about profanity. I imagine the people who drew up the Spencer’s Run rules didn’t think to include “no profanity” any more than they would have included “don’t tell anyone nobody likes them or their dog.” I think sometimes things escalate quickly and regrettably and it seems that Animal Control and police showed restraint getting the temperature to drop here, making sure the dispute remained verbal rather than physical and that nothing irretrievably harmful occurred. Personally, I think this Mean Girls “nobody likes you” bullshit can do far more harm than the odd swear word.
why not just band her.for good
you could just BAN her also! And, the “nobody likes you” comment may be just descriptive (and true) as opposed to evaluative.
As a New Canaan resident, I walk my dog on our town streets everyday. We meet dog owners who maintain control over their dogs, and unfortunately, we meet many who don’t (such as the Yellow Lab that attacked my dog, unprovoked, last weekend). I believe there is a town regulation – and if there isn’t there should be – requiring owners to keep their animals under control at all times. That rule should be enforced on-leash around town as well as off-leash at Spenser’s. And, I would be strongly in favor of the police issuing summons to any and all violators, wherever found.