MASSACHUSETTS -- Selectmen have ordered the muzzling of a Rounseville Road dog that killed a chihuahua on Bowen's Lane.
The board's action came in response to a complaint from Liam Delowery, of 68 Bowen's Lane, who said at a hearing Monday that he awoke on the morning of March 24 to find his pet Chihuahua Mota being attacked by Daisy, a black Labrador mix being walked in the area by its owner Margaret Gifford of 407 Rounseville Road.
Delowery told selectmen his dog had been severely injured in the attack and had to be euthanized. He asked that the Gifford dog be muzzled whenever it was walked so such an attack won't happen again.
Gifford said the attack occurred when several dogs ran into the street to chase Daisy, causing her to lose her grip on Daisy's leash. She also said “my dog did not go on the (Delowery) property.”
Gifford and her husband, Ralph, said they didn't want to muzzle their dog. “It's an elderly dog, nine years old,” Margaret Gifford said. “We just don't walk her on Bowen's Lane anymore.”
Ralph Gifford added Daisy has not previously acted like this and other neighbors do not fear her. “We adopted her from a shelter; took her training. She's had no prior incidents like this.”
Bowen's Lane resident Carrie Woodland, a professional dog groomer, countered that Daisy has a strong prey instinct. “And (Mrs. Gifford) does not have the skills to control her dog,” she said.
Margaret Gifford protested that a muzzle will not stop a dog from pawing its victim in an attack.
“I think a muzzle would be the safest, easiest thing to do,” selectmen Chairman Richard D. Nunes said.
(South Coast Today - June 5, 2012)
