A New Canaan girl suffered abrasions on her nose and cheek after a friend’s dog bit her during a play date, according to police records.
The dog—a Rhodesian Ridgeback named ‘Dunkin’—had been fostered by a Gerdes Road family for just five days when he bit the 15-year-old girl on Aug. 31, sending her to Norwalk Hospital for treatment, according to a case report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Police learned of the incident the following day when the dog’s owner, a New Milford woman, phoned to ask about what happens after a dog bite, according to the report, filed by Officer Roy Adams. Adams advised the woman that the dog must undergo a quarantine at a licensed facility.
By that time, a Ridgefield woman and friend of the owner had already removed the dog, the report said. Ultimately, police confirmed with Dunkin’s veterinarian—New Milford-based Candlewood Animal Hospital—that the dog is up-to-date on his shots, and he underwent the required 14-day quarantine at Passage East Kennels of Wilton.
Later in the afternoon of Sept. 1, the victim girl’s mother, a Laurel Road resident, met with Officer Nicole Vartuli at police headquarters and supplied three photos of her daughter’s face, according to a supplemental case report.
The following week, Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm took over the case. Halm contacted the Ridgefield woman who had taken ownership of Dunkin after the bite and learned that the dog was to be put placed again, either as a foster pet or for adoption. Halm also learned that it was the Ridgefield woman who had taken custody of Dunkin the prior week and turned the dog over to the Gerdes Road family for a trial foster period.
She told Halm that the New Canaan family had been provided with Dunkin’s medical history at the time.
Halm then notified the Gerdes Road family that a state bite report would come by mail and that “he was considered the responsible party at the time of the bite.”