Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Judge: Chelmsford woman, Jessica Sheridan, must euthanize dog by this afternoon

MASSACHUSETTS -- A Chelmsford woman has been found in contempt of court and ordered to euthanize her "dangerous dog" by this afternoon or the animal control officer will be allowed to seize the Old English Bulldog named "Violet" to have the dog destroyed.

At a hearing last week, Lowell District Court Judge Daniel Crane held Jessica Sheridan in contempt after she failed to euthanize the dog. The judge issued an ultimatum: By 4 p.m. today, either Sheridan provides proof the dog has been euthanized or Chelmsford Animal Control Officer Erik Merrill will be allowed to seize Violet from Sheridan's 14 Algonquin Road home and have a veterinarian put the dog to sleep.

Crane wrote in his ruling that Sheridan "willfully and intentionally violated an unambiguous order of this court."

Crane also slapped Sheridan with a $500-per-day fine for each day Violet is alive since Nov. 17. The town is seeking $4,640 from Sheridan to cover its attorney's fees.

Crane ordered Sheridan to appear Thursday in court, where he will consider increasing the fine and assessing other costs if she fails to comply.

When The Sun tried to contact Sheridan for comment, she did not answer her cellphone and her voicemail mailbox was full. Merrill was unavailable for comment.

Chelmsford selectmen on May 11 ordered Sheridan to euthanize her two bulldogs, Violet and Brasco, after they were accused of attacking a 4-year-old boy in an unprovoked attack on March 22 and both dogs were deemed "dangerous.

The dogs were accused of mauling the boy as the youngster and his mother, Sheridan's neighbors, walked near Sheridan's home. The child suffered serious bite wounds. At the May 11 public hearing, Sheridan reportedly told selectmen she felt terrible about what happened, but it was an accident. She described her pets as "good dogs."

Sheridan erected a 6-foot fence around her backyard to confine her dogs during the quarantine period because she was unable to produce proof of rabies vaccinations.

But on May 16, while the dogs were under quarantine, the dogs attacked an 8-year-old child who was on Sheridan's property playing with her child.

Although the 8-year-old may have "breached" the dog enclosure, Crane ruled the victim had permission to play with Sheridan's child. That child required 30 stitches to close bite wounds.

Sheridan euthanized Brasco shortly after the second attack. She claimed Brasco, a male, was the aggressor in both attacks, according to published reports. But Sheridan argued that Violet was not a dangerous dog and refused to comply with the order to destroy that dog.

The town took Sheridan to court to force her to destroy Violet, which officials describe as "an immediate and ongoing source of worry, concern and danger to the neighborhood," according to Town Counsel Jeffrey Blake of Kopelman and Paige.

(Lovell Sun - Dec 1, 2015)

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