Police Receive ‘Strong Response,’ Leads After Vicious Dog Attack

Police say they’ve received a strong response from the public in the wake of a vicious dog-on-dog attack on July 11 in New Canaan, including information that could lead soon to identifying those responsible. 

A number of people “have come forward with interesting scenarios that we are working on,” according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section.

“We have a few leads that we have been pursuing and may have some interesting possibilities of who it is,” Halm told NewCanaanite.com. “They still have an opportunity to come forward and get this over with.”

Though Halm is prevented from talking specifics about an active investigation, she said the public’s “strong response” has yielded information “and a sense that there could be an opportunity soon” to home in on the identity of those who accompanied the attacking dog.

At about 8:50 p.m. two Wednesdays ago, a man let a shepherd-type dog off-leash on South School grounds and the animal mauled a miniature golden doodle, Roxie, being leash-walked in the area. Confronted by Roxie’s owner, the man and a woman accompanying him declined to provide their contact information and left the scene. Police gathered images from video surveillance cameras (see above) but the footage did not capture a license plate number.

Roxie, meanwhile, suffered extensive internal wounds. She is to have staples removed from her side by a vet on Thursday, according to her owner, Jamie Boris.

“After that we’ll have a better idea of what the long term healing is going to be,” she said. “She’s still on medication, but we’re just so grateful because we know it could have been so much worse.”

Though Roxie nearly died from her wounds, “she’s been great” around people since the attack, Boris said.

“As far as other dogs, we haven’t had her around a lot of other dogs just because she’s healing and has the open wound. But she has seen a few of her dog friends and has been really happy to see them, so we’re hopeful that the trauma of the attack won’t be long lasting in terms of her ability to be around other dogs.”

Once her side has healed, perhaps in a few weeks, Roxie will return to doggy daycare, Boris said.

“There was a lot of internal damage, so we have to stay mindful of that,” she said. “But she’s really happy still. She’s such a good girl, she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”

—Catherine Gorey contributed to this article