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Crime & Safety

Animal Reports: A Roaming Pit Bull Adopts a Surprised Resident

Plus, two dog bites and an all breed dog show on the streets of Monroe

It was a dog show around town this past week with beagles, schnauzers, Pomeranians and corgis, to name only a few, on the loose. 

It began Dec. 14 at 8:49 a.m. with a Cutlers Farm Road resident reporting a Rails to Trails walker allowing his dog off leash. An investigation followed and the Monroe dog owner was issued a written warning for Creating a Nuisance and Failure to License his dog. The owner, a Historic Drive resident, complied and had his dog licensed by day's end.

After that, everything went to the dogs. 

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By 7:54 p.m. a German Shepherd Dog on Stillwater Circle had ignored his owner's electric fence and escaped to a neighbor's yard, collar intact. The owner was located and a written warning issued for a Roaming Dog Violation.

At 8:43 p.m. a homeowner returning home after a shopping spree was startled to have a white pit bull jump in the car with her when she tried to get out. As she emptied the car of packages, the dog was coaxed out, but then slipped into her house as she opened her door.

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She called Animal Control when he would not leave and began to show fear aggression when she approached. The responding officer spent three hours first, coaxing the animal outside, and then searching for it after it bolted and disappeared into the night.

The next day Animal Control patrolled the neighborhood. According to Officer Ed Risko, you can't leave an animal with that kind of behavior loose in the town. A door-to-door inquiry was scheduled for Friday, when he saw a man walking the pit bull on a leash.

The man lived some four houses away from the woman. He was the dog's "keeper", a foster owner for a private rescue group, Animals for Life in Middlebury. By law, a keeper, is anyone who has possession of a dog over 30 days. The keeper is responsible for the animal. Consequently, he was issued a written warning for Failure to License, Creating a Nuisance and Roaming Dog Violations.

Dog bites

On Dec. 15 at 8:49 a.m. there was a report of a German Shepherd Dog biting the oil deliveryman. The bite drew blood, but the Jockey Hollow Road resident, being a good owner, had valid vaccination papers and the pup was licensed.

Animal Control issued a 14-day on-property quarantine and the dog must be examined by a veterinarian three days prior to its release from quarantine.

Whether the dog attacked the man before or after he presented the bill for filling up the oil tank is unknown.

The second dog bite of the day occurred at 12:36 p.m. at the SPCA (no relation to ASPCA) on Spring Hill Road. 

An unscheduled visitor looking for a dog to adopt unwittingly stuck her hand into a cage and was bitten by a small white dog. The injury was minor, but drew blood.

The dog was properly vaccinated and licensed. Consequently, a 14-day on-property quarantine and examination by a veterinarian three days prior to its release from quarantine was initiated. There's no word as to whether the woman will be adopting the nippy little terrier mix.

Between the dog bite incidents a concerned motorist picked up two white shepherd-looking huskies walking in the road near 550 Main St. and brought them to Animal Control. The showy duo are frequent flyers on Risko's radar. The dogs were impounded until the owner could be notified. She paid the $30 fee and took them home. Both are vaccinated and licensed. 

At 5:37 p.m. a Beaver Circle Golden Retriever was reported lost. The owner later  recovered the dog without incident and a verbal warning was issued.

Dogs gone wild 

Dec. 17, 4 a.m. a frantic owner reported her tiny black and white unlicensed Chihuahua missing from her Monroe Turnpike home. At 2:31 p.m. a Monroe resident several blocks away spotted it running in the area. By 5:25 p.m. the pup was back home and a written warning was issued for Failure to License.

Meanwhile over on East Maiden Lane, at 1:33 p.m. a beagle was reported on a romp near Capitol Avenue. The animal could not be located.

Dec. 18, 9:06 a.m., an Owl Hill Road resident reported her gold Pomeranian female had taken off. A night went by before a Hawthorne Drive homeowner reported having the pup at 9:05 a.m. Animal Control retrieved the pet and impounded it. The owner was notified and given a written warning for Failure to License when the  dog was picked up. 

Also on Dec. 18, at 3:18 p.m., a running-corgi report came in from a Camelot Drive owner, who spotted the friendly pup on Old Castle Drive. The dog was later seized on Barn Hill Road and his owner quickly notified, as he was a recent resident of the Animal Control facility.

The owner, who recently brought a new baby into the home, was issued a written warnings for a Roaming Dog Violation again (Could be the corgi is feeling a little left out and vying for attention.), Failure to Vaccinate and Failure to License, again.

Two more beagles were spotted on the run on Meadows End Road and Guinea Road. No lost beagles reported and none located. 

Two miniature schnauzers were reported missing. The first a five-month old female, salt and pepper in color, disappeared from her Graham Street home in Stratford and may have been transported. 

The second is a male with no collar. He was last seen on Route 188 in Seymour. If you spot either try to hold the dog and call Animal Control.

Wildlife encounters

During the past week, one of Monroe's resident bobcats was spotted in the yard by a  Monroe Turnpike resident. It was hunting rodents in a field at the rear of the property, normal behavior for this time of year.

A Bardugone Lane homeowner called to report a squirrel in the house. Animal Control advised her to confine the rodent to one room and open a window giving it an avenue of escape.

A Kimberly Drive resident reported an unknown animal inside the chimney. Animal Control referred her to a Commercial Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator (NWCO).

Two foxes were sighted, one between Chalk Hill School and Fan Hill Road and the other on Crestwood Road. Neither could be located.

Two deer were hit and killed by motor vehicles.

The office and pound is located in the school bus yard at 447 Purdy Hill Road. It’s the small, reddish brown building to the left and is open to the public seven days a week, 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Remember. Monroe’s creatures were here first. Respect them. Enjoy them. And if you need help with them, call Officer Ed Risko at Animal Control (203)452-3760. For an Animal Emergency call (203)261-3622.

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