MASSACHUSETTS -- Rose Walsh, the owner of Rocco, a 6-year-old bull mastiff set to be euthanized after a severe biting incident, is appealing the decision.
"This is a really terrible situation. I really feel badly for the victim," she said. But she felt the attack was an "isolated incident."
"Rocco, he's not an aggressive dog," she said.
Meanwhile, in response to an article about Rocco on Somerville Patch, some have contacted us to emphasize the severity of the bites sustained by the victim of the attack, suggesting the incident involving Rocco went far beyond the average dog bite.
A bad attack
Walsh described what she's been through since the biting incident, which happened on Oct. 31.
She works in the restaurant industry and wasn't home on the night Rocco got out of the house, she said.
Her roommate was at their apartment, on Calvin Street, and the door popped open. The roommate didn't realize Rocco had escaped the apartment until she heard yelling on the street, Walsh said.
Based on what she heard from her roommate and the victim of the attack, Walsh said Rocco, out on
the street, went after a German shepherd that was walking by.
Both dogs received scratches and cuts in the fight, and when the German shepherd's owner tried to stop the fight, Rocco bit him on the hands, Walsh said.
She felt the combination of Rocco getting out and having a negative reaction to the German shepherd, and the victim getting between the two dogs, led to the bites. "I do not think he would bite a person under any other circumstance," she said, adding she doesn't absolve Rocco of what he did.
After the incident, Somerville Animal Control said Rocco would be put under at-home quarantine, mostly for rabies concerns, Walsh said.
According to Deputy Chief Michael Cabral of the Somerville Police Department, Walsh told authorities that Rocco was up-to-date with his vaccines, but the dog wasn't registered with the city of Somerville.
After a few days of being in quarantine at Walsh's home, Somerville Animal Control, after talking to the victim and taking into consideration his injuries, said it wanted to take Rocco into quarantine in the city's kennel, Walsh said.
"They said, 'We can do this the nice way, or we can get a warrant to pick him up,'" Walsh recalled them telling her.
Rocco was brought to the kennel on Nov. 4. On Nov. 14, there was a public hearing about the incident, which somewhat shocked Walsh, she said. She had been expecting a meeting, not a public hearing.
She, the victim of the attack, the victim's girlfriends, and 13 supporters of Rocco attended the hearing, she said.
The victim described what happened to him in a "very composed, very factual" way, and didn't advocate one way or the other for Rocco's fate, Walsh said.
She said she privately adopted Rocco, about nine months earlier, from a situation in East Boston where Rocco was neglected. She said Rocco didn't have a history of violence or a record with Boston's animal control office. She said she spoke to two neighbors who knew Rocco since he was a puppy, and they told her he never had problems.
About the attack, Walsh said, "I feel terrible." She also said, "I think that Rocco isn't beyond help."
"This goes far beyond one bite"
Some have contacted Somerville Patch to stress the severity of the bite.
One of those people, Melissa McCue-McGrath, a dog trainer who has blogged on Somerville Patch, wrote in her own blog that, "The important piece that is missing from the reporting is that the mastiff bit the man at a level 5 of 6. Bite level 6 is death to the victim."
"There is a lot more to this than 'Somerville wants to euthanize a dog who bit a guy,'" she wrote.
She added, "It reminds me of the McDonalds Coffee Case—a case that was assumed a frivolous lawsuit, but what wasn't stated was the severity of her injuries—her sweatpants were melted to her legs, she needed multiple skin grafts, and she suffered 3rd degree burns (in some cases through muscle and down to the bone) on thighs and genitalia over 16 percent of her body."
McCue-McGrath wrote, "If this dog is going to be saved at all, public sympathy shouldn't be the deciding factor." She said "a legitimately certified behavior specialist" should evaluate Rocco and the nature of the attack.
She also said, "What I will say is that I know that the city of Somerville wouldn't even consider euthanasia for most dogs for one bite (thankfully), but this goes far beyond one bite."
Appealing the decisionRocco is currently scheduled to be euthanized on Dec. 9, Walsh said, but because she appealed the city's decision, and because she hasn't heard about any court dates, she's not sure what will happen.
"It kind of feels like no one has really done this in a while," she said about the court process.
She's not sure if her case will be held in front of a judge at Somerville District Court or in front of a clerk magistrate.
"I want the opportunity to work with him"
Walsh said, "I would like Rocco to be returned to me. I would put him through a lot of intensive training."
"I would go through a lot of training, and I've been actively looking for a place to live out of the city," she said.
As horrible as the incident was, Walsh didn't feel it reflected who Rocco is, and she didn't think it was accurate to call the attack "unprovoked."
The victim and Rocco "are victims of terrible circumstances," she said.
She said, "I don't think euthanizing Rocco is justice for him."
She added that she holds no ill will toward the Somerville animal control office or Somerville police, because they're just doing their jobs in trying to protect the public. However, "I feel this is a circumstance where maybe they're being a little extreme," she said.
Meanwhile, a petition to save Rocco had attracted more than 3,000 signatures as of Tuesday night.
(
Somerville Patch - Nov 26, 2013)
