EASTHAM — The select board opened a dangerous dog hearing on two male Siberian huskies owned by Richard Moore of 20 Boreen Road at its March 25 meeting but continued it to April 1 without discussion at the request of the lawyer Moore has hired to represent him.

Animal Control Officer Stephanie Sykes had amassed about 100 pages of police and veterinary reports, along with her own reports, on the dogs, Fernando Alonso and Barkus Aurelius, who both have histories of biting humans and other animals.

Sykes has recommended that the select board declare the huskies are “dangerous dogs,” which could trigger a range of orders including restraint, use of a muzzle or short leash, neutering, insuring the dog for at least $100,000, and even euthanizing the animal.

Peaches, a third husky that Moore owns, is not a subject of the dangerous dog hearing. She also frequently breaks out of the fenced yard, but her misdeeds appear to be limited to running loose.

Reports of Fernando and Barkus killing chickens on Meadow Drive and attacking a 32-year-old mare in her paddock on Barrow House Road on Feb. 9 prompted Sykes to request the hearing. But the documents included in the select board’s March 25 packet show a pattern of aggressive behavior by both dogs over the last year.

During her investigation, Sykes found that Fernando was initially adopted in 2023, probably as a puppy, by a Barnstable woman who named him Max. In her report, Sykes said the woman told her that, due to “severe behavioral aggression issues,” she attempted to find Max a new home in June 2023. Moore, whom the woman identified as the breeder, had refused to take the dog back.

A husband and wife in Yarmouth then took in Max (now called Fernando) on a “trial adoption” and had no problems for the first four days. On the fifth day, the husky began repeatedly biting the woman’s forearm “with no identifiable provocation.” By the time she was able to get the dog outside and distracted, she had suffered several shallow bites that were bleeding. Sykes had photographic evidence of the injuries.

After that incident, Moore agreed to take the dog back to Eastham. Meanwhile, Barkus, who is about two years old, already had a history of escaping from his yard. In May 2023, Barkus broke through “the chicken wire-type fencing” in Moore’s yard and attacked a nine-month-old Norwich terrier at a neighbor’s house. The terrier suffered a fractured shoulder and puncture wounds, according to the report.

Fernando’s first brush with animal control was last August, when he reportedly attacked one of two dogs being walked on a leash on Boreen Road. Moore conceded that Fernando had been outside the fence but argued the dog wasn’t out of sight long enough for the incident to have occurred, Sykes wrote. Moore also said unrelated conflicts with his neighbors resulted in complaints about his dogs.

Sykes provided a photo of the laceration and scratches the dog owner said were caused by Fernando. At the time, Sykes told Moore to improve his fencing to contain the dogs.

Starting in October, the huskies were frequently reported running loose together. On Oct. 15, Barkus and Fernando were loose for several hours, Sykes wrote. She issued a written warning and told Moore that Fernando needed to be licensed in Eastham.

On Oct. 17, Fernando, Barkus, and Peaches were all found on the loose, having escaped from the same area of fencing as they had two days earlier. This time, Moore received a citation with a $50 fine for violating the law on loose dogs. Barkus escaped again on Oct. 21. The owner said the dog had charged through the fence. Sykes added in her report that the “owner used strong language and declined offer of husky-specific resources.”

On Nov. 25, Moore and his wife, Elisabeth Fiebiger, were walking two of the huskies on leashes. A neighbor who had been working in his yard struck up a conversation with the couple and reached out to pet Barkus, who bit him, puncturing the skin through a glove. The wound required medical treatment and was reported to the animal control officer. There was no record of action taken by the animal control officer other than to remind Moore that Fernando remained unlicensed.

During her investigation of other incidents involving the dog in preparation for the upcoming hearing, Sykes found a Feb. 4 report of Barkus, Fernando, and Peaches at Wiley Park “not under effective control,” barking and lunging at two people and their dog. The dogs had also been loose on Feb. 5 near Herring Brook Road.

Moore was fined $450 for violations related to the Feb. 9 attack on the chickens and the horse.

Asked why the dogs have never been impounded, Town Manager Jacqui Beebe said in an email that “Under MGL we can’t impound a dog until it is deemed ‘dangerous,’ which is the point of the hearing. If the dogs are deemed dangerous, we can order actions and impound if they are loose again.”

The dogs would remain impounded until there was a hearing in district court, Beebe said.

The town does not have its own pound, she said, but “we have a contract with a kennel for that service.”

EASTHAM — Three Siberian huskies belonging to Richard Moore will be the subject of a dangerous dog hearing on March 25, prompted by two attacks on local livestock on Feb. 9. The dogs had dug their way out of their owner’s fenced yard.

The two large male dogs killed several chickens on Meadow Drive, then moved on to attack a 32-year-old mare in a paddock on Barrow House Road. The third husky, a female, was retrieved by its owner shortly after its escape, according to the incident report filed by Eastham Animal Control Officer Stephanie Sykes, who requested the hearing.

Dangerous dog hearings are not frequent occurrences in Eastham, according to Town Manager Jacqueline Beebe. “This is the first we’ve had in many years,” said Beebe, who thought there may have been one in 2015. Ed Daniels, president of the Eastham Dog Owners Association, couldn’t recall a dangerous dog hearing held in the last 15 years.

The hearing is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Monday at Eastham Town Hall. The select board will preside, and remote participation will be available.

The three huskies that are the subject of the hearing, Fernando, Barkus, and Peaches, live at Moore’s home at 20 Boreen Road.

The dogs have a history of running loose. According to Sykes’s report, they escaped their fenced yard at least six times between August and December 2023.

On Feb. 9, the three huskies dug their way to freedom at about 11:30 a.m. Moore, who then set out by car to locate them, found Peaches about 10 minutes later.

Fernando and Barkus, however, were on the loose for nearly three hours. Sykes was off duty, but local police, who were out looking for the two dogs, kept her abreast of the situation.

Sykes was first notified that two large huskies were loose by the animal control officer in Wellfleet, who reported that the dogs had wandered over the town line but seemed to have returned to Eastham. That’s when Sykes contacted the Eastham police for assistance.

After killing several chickens on Meadow Drive, Fernando and Barkus were next reported at 115 Barrow House Road harrying an elderly Morgan named Mattie, who is owned by Virginia Delaney. A relative of Delaney’s who lives in the neighborhood reported that he saw the dogs attacking the horse from behind from either side.

According to the police report, he tried to scare the huskies away by shouting and waving his arms but backed off when one of the dogs lunged toward him “with teeth bared.” He finally scared the two dogs out of the paddock by banging a snow shovel against the fencing. Then he took Mattie into the stable and contacted a veterinarian.

Moore’s wife, Elisabeth “Edda” Fiebiger, arrived at Barrow Road in her Jeep soon afterwards. Fernando and Barkus, by then standing at the end of the driveway, leapt into her car and were taken home, according to Sykes’s report.

Veterinarian Dana Pantano, whose Black Pond Veterinary Service specializes in large animals, treated and bandaged Mattie’s wounds, which included lacerations on the inside and outside of her rear legs with a few deep cuts. The horse’s back had been protected by a blanket, which was ripped in two places and covered in the dogs’ saliva, according to Sykes, who had arrived at the Barrows Road home at 3 p.m., according to her written report.

The veterinarian had to sedate the horse during treatment and prescribed antibiotics to prevent infection.

The vet’s bill totaled $1,348. Under Massachusetts law, the dog owner is financially responsible for the treatment.

Sykes cited Moore for several violations of the town’s dog regulations, assessing fines of $450. None of the dogs was licensed by the town at the time of the Feb. 9 incident. According to Sykes’s report, proof of rabies vaccinations — a licensing requirement — had not yet been provided to the town clerk. All three dogs have since been licensed. Moore was also cited for allowing the dogs to “run at large.”

Sykes requested the dangerous dog hearing based on the history of the dogs being loose, “prior bite history to a dog and person, noncompliance of the dog owners with Eastham bylaws and Mass. state laws, previous warnings and citations,” culminating in the Feb. 9 incident.

According to Eastham’s dog regulations, the upcoming hearing will include testimony under oath from the complaining party and from any other witnesses the select board believes to have relevant information. Within 14 days after the hearing, the board will issue an order “concerning the restraint or disposal of such dangerous or vicious dogs as may be deemed necessary and in the public interest,” according to the town’s bylaws.

Beebe said Sykes is expected to include her recommendations in the packet for the meeting.

Daniels, who said he had marked Monday’s hearing on his calendar, said the association generally has no involvement in situations like this.

“It’s one of those things we discuss and follow,” Daniels said. “I suppose that under some circumstances we might get involved, but not as a matter of course.”

Daniels lives near Boreen Road and said he had once encountered the huskies when they were being walked on leashes by their owner. Daniels said his elderly Labrador retriever was walking off leash at the time but immediately returned to his side when called. The huskies, he said, although kept under tight control by the owner, “were really very, very aggressive at the end of the leash.”

Regarding the reported behavior of the huskies on Feb. 9, Daniels said he feels bad for the owner of the dogs, but “let the town rules take their course.”