Animal 411

New Canaan Police Impound Small Dog Reported as Found on Route 123

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New Canaan Police have impounded a small, neutered male dog that a Canaan Parish resident reported finding last Saturday afternoon on Route 123. The approximately 1-year-old dog—likely a mixed-breed, such as a Havapoo, Morkie or Havichon—was “frightened and suspicious” at first, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department Animal Control section. “Now I’m his caretaker and best buddy,” she said. Anyone who recognizes the dog should contact Animal Control at 203-594-3510. 

Halm said she has named him “Vingt”—French for “20,” since he’s the twentieth impound of this fiscal year and arrived in 2020. He’s at widely discussed Animal Control shelter at the Transfer Station.

State: 5 Coyotes Trapped and Killed in New Canaan in October, November

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Five coyotes were trapped and killed in southwestern New Canaan in October and November under a state-issued permit, records show. A raccoon also was caught in the trap and released on site, according to information from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Issued Sept. 23 for the area of Adams Lane after a coyote snatched and killed a small dog outside, the nuisance wildlife control officer’s permit ran through Nov. 30. 

Here’s a summary of the trapper’s work, according to a Nuisance Wildlife Control Special Permit Report submitted to DEEP as required by state regulations:

NewCanaanite.com obtained the report through a public records request. 

State officials originally had issued the permit through Oct.

Allyson Halm

State: Animal Trapping Permit in New Canaan Extended Due to ‘Limited Success’

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State officials say they’ve extended a special permit to trap animals in southwestern New Canaan after an initial five-week period failed to yield results. Issued Sept. 23 for the area of Adams Lane after a coyote snatched and killed a momentarily unwatched small dog there, the nuisance wildlife control officer’s permit now is good through Nov. 30, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials said in response to a public records request from NewCanaanite.com. 

The extension is “due to limited success at the end of the initial period,” Mary Lou Kramer, a paralegal in the DEEP commissioner’s Office of Legal Counsel, said in an email. The trapping permit originally was issued to Tom Logan, Kramer said.

Animal 411

Selectmen Divided on Future of Animal Shelter in New Canaan 

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Members of the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voiced support for two different ways to move forward with the town’s Animal Control shelter, which long has been occupied in a former incinerator building at the dump. That brick structure soon will need a new roof, which two officials say would cost about $75,000 to $80,000 to replace. Selectman Nick Williams raised the issue recently, calling for New Canaan to find better quarters for the lost or abandoned animals that end up in the shelter. During the Board’s special meeting at Town Hall, Selectman Kit Devereaux said response to the issue has generated strong support from concerned residents, and that creation of a new shelter “would be a really great public-private partnership.”

“I want to know if there would be support for that,” Devereaux said. Williams said he agreed, and that he received several calls and emails from residents who want to help.

Allyson Halm

Nuisance Dog Citation for New Canaan Woman Whose German Shepherd Scared Neighbor

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Police fined an Old Studio Road woman $75 after her German shepherd dog got off-property and frightened a neighbor out with her own smaller canines, records show. The nuisance dog citation followed “several occasions” in which the shepherd, Monty, escaped the property, according to a case report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. On the morning in question, Sept. 23 (a Monday), the victim was walking her two small dogs when she saw the German shepherd running toward her. “[A] female child was trying to catch the dog but could not gain control,” according to the case report, written by Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department Animal Control section. 

Monty’s owner then “pulled up in her vehicle” and instructed the victim to get in her car, at which time the shepherd’s owner secured the dog, the report said.