Community Corner

Dead Apricot Poodle Found Behind Empty Building

Animal shelter needs help in solving the incident.

Laura Selvaggio Burban, Director of the  needs your help in solving the case of a male non-neutered apricot poodle found dead behind a closed down manufacturing business in Branford two weekends ago.

Wednesday afternoon as the clouds rolled in, the area where the dog was found at the end of Beaver Road was bleak and damp. An indentation of where the dog had laid, just feet from the paved driveway, was still pressed into the brush– a dirty multicolored towel and navy blue sweatshirt lay beside the shallow impression.

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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While Selvaggio Burban hunted around to see if she could find any clues, Animal Control Officers Wendy Joyce and Pam Medlyn recanted how the incident unfolded: Both officers said the were called anonymously some time on Saturday, March 26 on a report of two young boys acting suspiciously. Joyce said when the police arrived they found two boys in the vicinity of the deceased dog– it appeared that the boys may have been looking at the remains.

Following the incident, the two youths, who appeared to be between the ages of 12 and 13, were dismissed from the scene.

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The Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter, which serves Branford and North Branford, assumed investigation of the case and Selvaggio Burban has sent the animal for a necropsy (animal autopsy) and expects the results sometime next week.

The apricot poodle, age unknown, appeared to have trauma to the face according to the animal control officers or some sort of decay from decomposition. Though they could not determine at the scene how long the dog had been there, they believe the medical results will rear some dates.

Having no luck in finding the dog’s owner (the animal was not chipped with an information device), Selvaggio Burban said, “I would hope that anyone who would have information regarding a lost poodle would contact the animal shelter.” She added, “This animal had no voice to speak for itself and the duties of the animal control office is protect the public and to protect the animals.”

Anyone with information regarding the poodle should contact the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter at 203-315-4125.


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