Massachusetts: Woman and her dog attacked by Pit Bull at park; wants answers from town officials

MASSACHUSETTS -- A woman who says she was attacked by a pit bull off its leash at the Twi Field wants the town to enforce its leash law. Town officials will meet with her on Friday to determine how to move forward.

"We wanted to hear from her firsthand and assure her that the town is taking her complaint and concerns seriously, as I do," Selectmen Chairman David Mills said. "I'm a dog owner and I never, ever, ever let my dog off the leash. My dog is cute and lovely but I do not believe all dogs are cute and lovely."

The town has been aware of chronic scofflaws in that particular area and have previously handed out copies of the leash law in an attempt to mitigate the issue.

"We seldom get these types of calls," Director of Health and Veterans' Services Peter Mirandi said. "The leash law is one of the toughest because we can't be all places at all times."

Selectmen discussed the dog attack briefly at their meeting on Sept. 12. It was decided that Town Manager Steve Bartha and Mirandi, who is also in charge of animal control, would speak with victim Rosemary Donovan Birmingham and then report back to the board.

"I'm going in prepared as best I can for whatever she has in mind," Mirandi said, "Her initial remarks to me were that we need more surveillance around the leash law." He noted that the platform for such a change would be at Town Meeting.

Birmingham has publicly stated that on the morning of Sept. 10 she was at the field to watch her son's baseball game with her dog, Chewie, a six-month-old puppy which weighs about 60 pounds. 

She noticed a man with his dog off leash on the grass behind a skate park but kept walking toward the bleachers. The dog, described by Birmingham as a large pit bull, ran toward her and Chewie and began growling and throwing the dog around. 

Birmingham got between the dogs and the pit bull jumped at her, knocking her to the ground. A nearby man watching the game, ran over to her, grabbed the dog's harness and pulled it off of Chewie and Birmingham.  [and then fled with his mauler]

There were no puncture wounds from the incident. Birmingham did not get contact information from the dog owner, who remains unknown.

A detailed list of pit bulls in town, including names, primary color and other markings, could shed light on the owner after the meeting on Friday.

"I thought I knew which dog it was but people are denying it so unless we can come up with something a little more substantive it's an allegation at this point that it was a pit bull," Mirandi said.

Selectmen have not yet decided on whether or not they will issue a fine for having the dog off its leash, which is $25 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses, if they find the owner. "If something is recommended of course we will then consider it and vote as a board," Mills said.

The town has an animal control program that ranges from finding stray dogs a home to working with Danvers Animal Hospital to help injured animals, both domestic and wild. There is also a program to address rabies control.

According to Mirandi, spot checks are completed periodically and public recommendations of problem areas to patrol are taken into account.

"Sometimes, as unfortunately this is, we get our tips from the public after the fact," Mirandi said.

He said the town takes a "team approach" when addressing these issues, including help from recreation department, the public and the Danvers police, who went to the field on Tuesday to further enforce the law.

"The Danvers Police Department played a role ... in sending a very strong message to those folks who were running dogs without leashes at public parks — that this can not be tolerated."

(salemnews.com - Sept 20, 2017)