EASTHAM — The select board unanimously designated two aggressive male huskies who frequently run loose as “dangerous dogs” at an April 1 hearing that stretched to nearly three hours. Both dogs have histories of biting other animals and people without provocation.
The hearing was precipitated by a Feb. 9 incident when the dogs covered more than four miles over three hours, killing chickens and then attacking a mare in a paddock.
Barkus, the two-year-old husky, is the father of Fernando, a one-year-old. Both belong to Richard Moore, who lives at 20 Boreen Road.
The board approved a list of conditions that Moore must comply with or face a fine of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for the second. If the dogs are loose at any time, they will be impounded until a hearing in district court takes place to decide their fate.
By April 30, Moore must install an enclosed and locked chain-link, roofed kennel embedded two feet in the ground. If he takes the dogs off his property, they must be muzzled and securely restrained. Both dogs must also be neutered by April 30.
Moore was given 10 days to appeal the select board’s decision.
Warnings Didn’t Work
At the hearing, witnesses offered testimony under oath. Animal Control Officer Stephanie Sykes gave a lengthy narrative on Barkus and Fernando’s aggressive behavior in the past year as well as Moore’s chronic failure to keep the dogs on his property and properly supervise them.
After a series of warnings, Sykes cited Moore on Oct. 17 with a violation that carried a $50 fine, which he had not paid. Sykes said she tried to advise Moore on fencing. “The owner said he was using the right type of fencing,” Sykes said, but the dogs had repeatedly dug under it and pushed through it.
Molly Silva of Meadow Drive, who owns the chickens that were killed, said she and her four-year-old son witnessed the attack on Feb. 9. The chickens were fenced in an outdoor pen. By the time the dogs left, three chickens were dead, and the rest were hiding in the woods. Two remain missing.
“We spend a lot of time outside,” Silva said. “Now I fear the dogs know my yard has something for them. I’m quite concerned my children might be out.”
Moore’s lawyer, Emir Sehic, complained that town attorney Nicole Costanzo was asking the witness “leading questions.” He wanted more information, he said, such as “what dog damaged which chicken.”
After leaving Meadow Drive, the huskies were seen attacking a 30-year-old mare on Barrow House Road. The horse, Mattie, is owned by Virginia Delaney, who was out of town at the time. Her son, William Delaney, testified that he saw “Mattie running in circles, soaking wet with sweat.” The huskies were on either side of the horse attacking her hind legs, he said.
Delaney said he ran toward the paddock, shouting and waving his arms but retreated when “the dogs lunged at me, teeth out.” He was finally able to scare the dogs away by banging a shovel on the side of the fence.
A veterinarian treated Mattie’s wounds, which included lacerations on her rear legs. The horse has since recovered.
Virginia Delaney told the select board that veterinary care had cost $1,678. “It is horrific that this happened at all,” she said. “They are an imminent threat to the health and safety and welfare of the people of Eastham, and the town really needs to remove them.”
Attorney Sehic asked that Barkus and Fernando be designated “nuisance dogs” rather than dangerous dogs. “The dogs are puppies,” he said. “Puppies tend to be mouthy; they tend to bite.” Sehic questioned whether just one dog was “actively attacking” the chickens or both.
Select board chair Aimee Eckman responded. “You’re splitting hairs.”
Moore apologized for the dogs’ actions. “I’m sorry about the horse, and I’m sorry about the chickens,” he said, adding that he wanted to pay for the veterinary care.
After the hearing, Virginia Delaney said she thought that the select board’s actions would not be effective. “I want the dogs gone,” she said. During the hearing, the board noted that banning the dogs from town is not allowed under Massachusetts law.
Their designation as dangerous “gives the Animal Control Officer more authority to impound the dogs and impose fines, and move the matter to the courts,” Town Manager Jacqui Beebe wrote in an email.
Asked whether the dogs could be euthanized, Beebe said, “It would be up to the judge at District Court, but it is certainly the next step if there continues to be a loose dog issue.”
