Community Corner

Animal Shelter Seeks Leads in Suspicious Poodle Death

Do you know anything? Please contact the shelter to help.

On March 26, the Branford Animal Control Department was notified by volunteers and the Branford Police Department that there was a deceased dog behind an abandoned building on Beaver Road in Branford (you can learn more about the finding ).

Upon the Animal Control Officers' arrival, they found what appeared to be a young, apricot colored, unneutered male poodle, which was deceased. The dog was found laid in multi-colored towel (see photos). Given the harsh winter with heavy snow, Animal Control Director Laura Selvaggio Burban said the time of death of the dog was unknown.

Beaver Road runs next to Eli’s on the Hill and is part residential and part commercial. Behind the building, now vacant at 14 Beaver Rd. where the dog was found, is an abandoned shack; trash, discarded furniture and an old blue dumped boat litter the area.

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The dog was presented to UConn for necropsy and the results came back in June noting that the dog was dead at least one week prior to being found. The test results also showed that the dog was killed with a 3 x 2 cm object in the abdomen. The penetration went inside the dog approximately 17 centimeters.

The Animal Control Officers are speculating that this dog may have been killed with a knife or an object similar to a knife.

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"We are interested in speaking to anyone with information about a missing unneutered male apricot poodle, approximately one year old and not groomed," stated Selvaggio Burban in a press release.

If within the time frame of December 2010 and March 2011, if anyone has any information on a missing poodle, the Branford Animal Control Department would like you to contact them at 203-315-4125. The dog had no specific tattoos, tags and was not micro-chipped.

Selvaggio Burban said the shelter will order a necropsy on any animal that appears to have died a suspicious death. The exam costs a few hundred dollars, she reported. On average, she added, about two are cases a year require a necropsy.

Selvaggio Burban, Director of the Animal Shelter said that our concern is for the safety of both the residents and the animals in the Town.


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