Board of Selectmen Minutes

Board of Selectmen                                 Present: Kenneth F. Troup

December 29, 2009                                 Stanley Wysocki

                                                                Curtis Plante

                                                                Don Lowe, Town Administrator

                                                                Linda L. Day, Town Secretary

The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 6:00 p.m.  

Present:  Mr. & Mrs. Robert Cardinale; Mr & Mrs. Kenneth Doerr; Vincent Alfano, Police Chief; Susan Latham, Animal Control Officer and Assistant Animal Inspector; Phyllis Tower, Assistant Animal Control Officer and Animal Inspector; and Cynthia Fuhs,Veterinarian

DOG HEARING – COMPLAINT

The Board of Selectmen held a hearing at 6:00 p.m. to hear the complaint filed by Mr. & Mrs. Cardinale of 18 Wilder Road regarding two Siberian husky dogs that attacked the Cardinale’s alapacas. The huskies are owned by Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Doerr of 90 West Berlin Road.  

Ms. Latham, Animal Control Officer reported that the Police Department received a 911 call from Mr. Cardinale who said that his animals had been attacked and asked for help.   Officer Barry responded to the call and according to Officer Barry’s police report she saw two dogs or coyotes circling the pen.

Mr. Cardinale reported that when he arrived home at 4:30 p.m. he heard what appeared to be barking and yelping.  He looked out into the paddock and saw one of his animals motionless on the ground, with two – what he thought were coyotes - tearing and biting at him.  He called 911 and then went into the paddock to chase the dogs away.  The alpaca got up and ran into a corner.  He was able to keep the dogs away by chasing them around with a shovel.  They eventually jumped out of the paddock going through and over the two electric fences.  Officer Barry stayed in the pen for another 10 to 15 minutes with dogs circling the pen the entire time trying to get back into the paddock.   

Ms. Latham stated that when she arrived at 5:00 p.m. there were two police cruisers present and the veterinarian was on scene attending to the animals or arrived shortly thereafter.  When Ms. Latham got out of her car she saw two Siberian huskies coming around the far end of the Cardinale property.  As she walked toward the dogs, one of them came over to her and she was able to put that dog in her van.    She then got a rope around the second dog and put that dog in the van also.  The dogs were taken to the kennel in Stow where they were placed on the runs.  Ms. Latham witnessed blood splatter on the shoulder of one of the dogs.  

After reviewing the town’s dog files, Ms. Latham contacted the Doerr’s from West Berlin Road to see if their Siberian huskies were missing.  The Doerr’s met Ms. Latham at the kennel and confirmed that the dogs belonged to them.   Ms. Latham explained to the Doerr’s what had happen, what would happen from that point forward including the fact that she would be issuing citations to them.  The Doerr’s paid the required pick up and kennel fees.

Because of the reported bites on the alpacas, the dogs were quarantined by Phyllis Tower, Animal Inspector.  The dogs were quarantined to the large barn where they live on a regular basis.  Ms. Tower stated that the barn doors were secure and the Doerr’s agreed to put a lock on the outside door. The dogs were due to be released on the evening of December 31, 2009.

Mr. Cardinale stated that there were 4 alpacas injured, with 3 being seriously injured.  The 4^th alpaca had a single bite on his thigh and is fine.  They were discharged today and released to a convalescence facility for another month.  

Mr. Doerr stated that they feel very badly about what happen and it is a tragedy.  He admitted that they made a mistake by not having the collars on their dogs and therefore the dogs left their property.  This is the first complaint filed against their dogs in the 31/2 years they have had them.

Mr. Doerr questioned why some of the wounds on the alpacas were not noticed until the next day and stated that there are many other possible explanations for the attack on the alpacas.

He also stated that this was the very first he was hearing about the blood being seen on the shoulder of one of the dogs and when he picked up the dogs there was zero blood on one of them and only a little spec of something on the nose of the other dog.  

Chief Alfano and Veterinarian Fuhs both confirmed that they saw blood on one of the dogs.

Mr. Cardinal stated that a 5 foot and 4 foot electric fence surrounds the entire paddock.  They have 9 males and 1 female ranging from 1 to 8 years old.   The breeding male and female are in a separate paddock from the others.

  

Mr. Plante stated that he read an article on the website that stated the teeth of an alpaca can be worse than that of a dog.  Veterinarian Fuhs stated that alpacas have fighting teeth but as Mrs. Cardinale stated they are ground down such that they can’t be used as a weapons.  Mr. Cardinale stated that the bites were not alpaca bites and was something other than alpaca bites.

Mr. Cardinale did not see the dogs get into the paddock but noted that he witnessed one going through the 5 foot electric fence and jump over the 4 foot fence.  

Veterinarian Fuhs stated that the injuries were similar across 3 of the 4 animals.  One female and 2 males all had wounds under the tail and the size of the tissue involved suggests a fairly large jaw.  Dr. Fuhs has never seen wounds like this inflicted by an alpaca.  

Mr. Plante stated that he is having a hard time understanding why the dogs did not have more blood on them and that is why he is being more inquisitive about what and how the incident actually took place.  Although Mr. Plante agrees that the issue of the dogs being untethered is an issue that needs to be dealt with he questioned if this was a matter of two dogs being in the right place at the wrong time.  

Mr. Cardinale confirmed that he witnessed the dog tearing the fur off of an alpaca and collected fur that could be test for the saliva to confirm the dogs had attached the alpacas.

Mr. Doerr stated that the dogs are normally kept on the property with the invisible fence and put in their pen when the Doerr’s will be away for a long period of time.  Unfortunately the dogs were not wearing their collars this time.

Mr. Plante asked Mr. Cardinale if it is possible that the attack took place before the Doerr’s dogs arrived on site.  Mr. Cardinale once again stated that he saw the dogs on the alpaca.

On a motion made by Plante and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to continue the hearing until January 14, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. to allow the Board of Selectmen the opportunity to review the input received from the Tufts Veterinarian related to the extent of the injuries, the type of animal that could have caused the wounds, the dental records in terms of teeth care,  review the police log timeline including the detailed transcripts of the 911 call, and to conduct a site visit of the Cardinale property and ordered that the dogs being restrained in the barn or walked on a leash until the hearing has been completed.  (Troup – yes, Wysocki – yes, Plante – yes)

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Plante, the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted Linda L. Day