Neighbors Complain about Dog Smell

Neighbors started complaining about the dog odor coming from 253 Main St., a year ago, said Robert Steinberg, who owns the building next door at 255 Main St. He complained to city officials on behalf of his tenants.

In the last 30 days, both city and state officials have cited the property owner for problems related to raising 25 puppies in a downtown apartment.

The pet owner is under a city cease and desist order for running an illegal dog kennel in a second-floor apartment. On a hot summer day, the puppies hang out near the windows and people could see them from Main Street, Steinberg said. He said it was an open secret.

The kennel owner, Ibolya Balazs, said on Tuesday she is raising the dogs for sale, and they're just keeping her alive in a tough economy. She said it isn't like she uses the money to take vacations. She said the bad economy is hurting the sales.

Balazs is also under a state quarantine of her 25 dogs, because one or more of them may carry a highly contagious canine illness called the canine parvovirus.

"I'm not against anyone keeping dogs or running a kennel. This one is in the wrong place," Steinberg said.

Steinberg's building is next door to Balazs' building. His second floor tenant is Irene's Tailoring & Alterations.

"When it's hot, you can smell the dogs," Steinberg said. The puppies could be heard barking through the wall on the second floor of Steinberg's building Wednesday. The tailoring shop was closed. "She has brides and their families up here. She has to play music."

Danbury Fire Marshal James Johnson said the building at 253 Main St., doesn't meet fire code and is a threat to the buildings on either side. The stairway from the ground floor up to the second and third floor doesn't have fire-rated walls or doors. A fire that starts on the ground floor would quickly burn its way to the third floor.

Johnson said the second floor of 253 Main St., is heated by space heaters, and one had a 100-foot extension cord that was hot to the touch. Both the second and third floors are partially or entirely gutted, respectively.

The second floor is zoned for an apartment. It is partially gutted, and would not meet city requirements for an apartment. Zoning on Main Street does not allow a kennel.

Members of the UNIT, the city's unified neighborhood inspection team, visited the building in mid-November, said Shawn Stillman, director of the UNIT. He said he'd had complaints about the dog spell for months, but the owner wouldn't let him inspect the house.

Stillman said when he finally inspected the apartment in November, it smelled so bad of urine and feces he had to breath through his mouth. He said the dog feces and urine was on some paper, but a lot of it was on the gutted apartment's subflooring.