Ware selectmen order Pug muzzled after multiple reports of bitten residents near downtown

MASSACHUSETTS -- Selectmen ordered the owner of a pug to muzzle it at Tuesday's meeting after the dog officer gave testimony during a hearing the animal has bitten a number of residents in the West Main Street area recently.

A young boy, who was bitten by the dog while riding a bicycle, ended up crashing it into a parked car and was hospitalized, the officer said.

The board also faulted the owner, Tracy Prince, for not licensing her dog, and said that must be done right away.

Prince, who attended the Aug. 18 meeting, said she usually keeps the dog out of harms way.

On June 15, when the boy was injured, Prince said she was not home and had left the dog outside on a leash.

She said an emergency caused her to leave her 90 West Main St. residence in a hurry.

"That day, the dogs were out and I just left the house," Prince said. "I don't know why we didn't register her. She is an issue. We are going to re-home her, or bring her to a shelter."

The ACO described her experience upon investigating the matter.

"When I arrived, I was able to find the pug in question as it was chained outside the residence of 90 West Main St. along with a black male boxer mix in the middle of a shared driveway between three houses," Prideaux wrote. "When I attempted to walk down the driveway, I had to lunge out of the way as both dogs shot across the driveway and nearly grabbed me. The chains on both animals were able to reach all the way across the driveway forcing me to dive into a small weed covered strip to prevent being bitten.

"Both dogs acted highly aggressive, hackles raised, teeth bared and lunging at me repeatedly while barking and clicking their teeth. No one was home."
From interviews with those living in the vicinity, the ACO reported that "neighbors stated that the dogs lunge so hard on the chains, that they break free frequently and almost weekly end up wandering the streets" and that "they had heard of the pug mix going after and biting people, or lunging at people walking along the sidewalk and that the dogs in question are both left out for prolonged periods of time whether the owners are home or not."

(MassLive - Aug 19, 2015)