MASSACHUSETTS -- A pit bull that attacked one man, ripped into a neighbor’s German shepherd and bit a 9-year-old girl was ordered put to death by selectmen Tuesday night. The decision was one of three dog hearings the board took up.
Daniel Chauvin, regional animal control officer, said about Gino, the pit bull owned by Vincent Gauthier, 18 River St.: “I don’t trust this dog. The owner doesn’t seem to be getting it. … Just as there are dangerous people, there are dangerous dogs. In my professional opinion, this is a dangerous dog.”
State law no longer allows boards of selectmen to banish dangerous dogs from towns.
Mr. Chauvin said that in August, Mr. Gauthier was unable to restrain Gino while the dog was pulling his owner on inline roller skates and attacked a man who was taking a walk. The man required medical attention for bites in his hand and stomach.
In April, Gino escaped from a shed while Mr. Gauthier was doing yard work at a relative’s house on Rayburn Drive and attacked a German shepherd being taken for a walk by Michael Muller.
Mr. Muller said, “That dog was locked on; it was possessed. I’m a dog lover myself, but that dog’s going to end up hurting somebody.”
The third incident, in May, resulted in a 9-year-old girl receiving medical treatment for puncture wounds she received when Gino jumped up and bit her when she tried to pet him.
In other dog hearings, selectmen voted unanimously to have the town manager send a letter to Regina Ockalizcski, owner of Nakita, a red husky, to keep the dog restrained and quiet in a run and kennel or face losing the dog. The owner had previously been issued citations for her dog’s excessive barking and roaming.
They also ordered Justin Bristol, owner of a German shepherd, Harley, to restrain the dog in a kennel approved by the animal control officer, keep the dog leashed and muzzled when out for a walk, and get it obedience training. Harley had bit a woman passing by and an 11-year-old boy in the neighborhood.
(Worcester Telegram - May 29, 2013)
