New Pound Welcomes Its First Dog

By Kendra Bobowick

She pranced down the freshly finished floor and, tail wagging, stopped at a kennel at the end of a row. On Wednesday, September 12, Sunny was “Dog Number One” of Newtown’s pound pets to relocate to the new Brian J. Silverlieb Animal Care and Control Center of Newtown. The new building is located at the end of Old Farm Road off Trades Lane.

Unlike the day animal control officers rescued her, Sunny was not confused, cold, or frightened this week as she sniffed at the building’s front door. Holding the door for her, First Selectman Pat Llodra watched Sunny become the first pound pet to officially make a temporary home of the new facility while waiting for adoption. Throughout the day Wednesday Animal Control Officer Carolee Mason and Assistant Animal Control Officer Matt Schaub shuttled the nine dogs and six cats to the new building, which includes a cattery for the cats, a quarantine room, a grooming station, meet and greet room, a kitchen and supplies closet, and many additions made to improve the facility both for animals and the animal control staff.

The $1 million new construction celebrated a grand opening and dedication in July, but only opened doors to the pets this week. The public will be welcome to visit in coming days, once the dogs, cats, and staff have settled in. Anticipating that they will have the same phone number, 203-426-6900, once the new center is fully running, Mr Schaub advises that people who need to contact animal control should call the police station dispatch number at 203-426-5841 or 203-270-4255.

Wednesday, Mr Schaub watched as Sunny paced, then settled in the new kennel with a pass-through to an outer area overlooking trees and meadows. To prospective adopters, he warned, “The pound is home to these dogs and people roaming in are strangers.” Visitors to the pound should be careful to keep their fingers out of the kennels. Also, he asks for patience. While pound pets are “good with me and [Ms Mason]” they may take time to adjust to a new home and surroundings.

Walking through the new facility and peeking inside its rooms, Mrs Llodra said, “This was a long, long effort.” Public Works Director Fred Hurley, who also accompanied Sunny to her new home, pointed to Mrs Llodra: “She said, ‘Get it done,’ and that was the key.”

The town had dedicated $750,000 in Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) funds to the building project, which was supplemented with $250,000 from Canine Advocates of Newtown, (CAN), fundraising efforts. The center was named for the late Brian J. Silverlieb, a veterinary medical doctor and founder of Mt Pleasant Hospital for Animals and devoted advocate of pound pets. He died in February 2011.

Sunny had been abandoned in the early spring and left on the side of Zoar Road where officers found her in a blanket, but were unable to locate puppies she had clearly been nursing. Since then, she has made the dog pound her home.