Public Hearing Minutes
July 20, 2006
Present: Henry C. CobbDaniel Boyer
C. Peter Cole
Patricia Daniels
Others Present: Carolyn Lorie
Brendan Donahue, Town Counsel
Brady/Callahan Firm
Barry Newton, Constable
Julia Lloyd Wright, Eagle Times
Lynn Esty
Tim Kehoe
Jen Kehoe
Chris Zepf
Glenn Fisher
Jen Tucker
Cliff Harriman
Bill Harriman
Vanessa Harriman
Kelly Harriman
Scott Harriman
Ray Stapleton
David T Fuller
Wes Hazeltine
Douglas Metcalf
Michael Gerow
Edith Stillson
Steve Snyder
Ginger Wimberg
Julia Schmitz
Audrey Harriman
Kelly Selmer
Mr. Cobb convened the Public Hearing and explained the process of the Hearing. Mr. Cobb then read the Notice of Investigation of Vicious Domestic Pet.
Mr. Donahue, Town Legal Counsel, read the Vermont State Statute and read the sections of the Town Ordinance that differs from the Statute. Mr. Fuller asked when the Town Ordinance was adopted, Mr. Boyer said December 2003.
Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Newton if the vet certified that the dog did not have rabies, Mr. Newton said yes.
Mrs. Daniels read the complaint submitted to the Town of Weathersfield by Mr. Tim Kehoe.
Mr. Kehoe said the photographs he has already provided the Town support his complaint. He said he was jogging on Little Ascutney Road on Saturday, July 8, 2006 and the dog broke his tether and attacked him. He said when he was told to stop, by the man that was leaving the residence in a van, he did. He said the dog bit his right hand and then his left upper forearm. He said he has received surgery and will have to receive skin grafts. He said he still could not move his pinky and ring finger on his left hand. Mr. Cobb asked him the distance from the dog when this happened. Mr. Kehoe said he was past the dog’s house after he heard the cable snap. He said this was an attack not a bite. He said this was clearly out of aggression.
Mr. Cobb asked whom the man was that told him to stop. Mr. Kehoe said he did not know. Mr. Michael Gerow spoke up and said it was he. Mr. Cobb asked how he knew the dog and/or owner of the dog. Mr. Gerow said he works for the owner of the dog and has known the dog for several years.
Mr. Kehoe said that if you try to muzzle and tether this dog it could clearly break a tether and even a muzzle.
Mr. Kehoe said he is a physical education teacher and during the summer months paints houses which he has not been able to do. He said his life and his family’s lives have stopped since this happened as he is in a lot of pain. He asks that the dog doesn’t go back into this Town. He asks the Board to look at the photographs he has provided.
Mr. Cole asked Mr. Kehoe if he in any way could have provoked the dog. Mr. Kehoe said no, he immediately stopped when he was told to do so. He said he was jogging on the opposite side of the road.
Mr. Cobb asked him if he was carrying anything, Mr. Kehoe said no. Mr. Cobb asked what he was wearing, Mr. Kehoe said t-shirt, shorts, jogging clothes. Mr. Cobb asked if he kicked the dog, Mr. Kehoe said no. He said he did not want to kick the dog and was afraid that if he were knocked off his feet the dog would go for his throat. Mr. Kehoe said in no way did he try and defend himself by kicking or hitting the dog. Mr. Kehoe said he was about 30 – 40 yards from the residence. Mr. Kehoe said he runs up and back and always stays on the opposite side of the road and tries not to make eye contact with this dog.
Mr. Fuller asked if there was a physician report that could be read to support the injury. Mr. Cobb said he has a bite to his left arm that is to the bone and has nerve damage. He said his right hand was injured first but with less damage.
Mr. Kehoe said he also wanted to bring the 911 mishap to the Board’s attention. He said it was forty-five minutes before emergency personnel arrived and another fifteen minutes before the ambulance arrived. He said when the ambulance arrived there was not a paramedic on board so he had to wait one and one half hours after the bite before he received pain medication and he is concerned about this response time.
Mrs. Esty said she is a former constable in Town and a friend of Tim and Jen (Kehoe’s). She said she was aware of the accident shortly after it happened and she has seen the pictures and there is major damage. She said Tim and Jen are dog owners. She said if this were a smaller person or one not as physically fit as Tim we wouldn’t be having this same hearing. She mentioned she helped to write the dog ordinance.
Mr. Kehoe said he asks that the dog not come back into the community.
Mr. Newton said he received a call from Rockingham dispatch to respond to the location and he was given the correct location. He said when he arrived there he was concerned that the ambulance was still there and Mr. Kehoe wasn’t yet in it.
Mr. Gerow asked Mr.Kehoe to confirm he has run past the dog now for several years, Mr. Kehoe said yes. Mr. Gerow said you have run past for year’s incident free, Mr. Kehoe said yes and the dog has lunged at me several times.
Mrs. Audrey Harriman said she was a witness to the attack. She explained she was outside her house with her husband and grandchildren and heard the person screaming. She said she saw him go down into the bushes. She said the dog ran down her driveway and her husband went after it. She said Mr. Kehoe was concerned about his son being home alone so she called his wife. She said she stayed with Mr. Kehoe until emergency personnel arrived. She said she called 911 back to see how long before they would be there. At first she was told they couldn’t tell her then they said another fifteen minutes. She said she definitely feels the dog should not be returned.
Mrs. Harriman mentioned her eight-year-old grandson was bit in the upper thigh during the winter by another dog from the same residence. She said her husband called Mr. Metcalf about the bite. She said she has eight small grandchildren and does not want the dog returned.
Mrs. Harriman asked the Board if they had read her witness statement, the Board said yes. She said that someone told her at the Town office when she left her witness statement there that they would be notified of the Public Hearing and they weren’t, she questioned why. She asked the Board why an unregistered dog without a rabies shot was not immediately removed from the property after the attack. She asked why the dog was returned to the owner prior to this hearing. She said this is the second dog breaking its tether in the past six months and asked if the Town was willing to be held responsible next time something happens. She asked if the Board could find the dog owner a responsible owner after two failed tethers.
Mr. Cobb said he did not know why she was not notified about the Public Hearing. He said the Board will consider each of her questions and will see if there is a flaw in our ordinance. He said after everything is looked at there might be revisions that can be done.
Mrs. Harriman asked that in the future someone notify her that the dog is being returned to her neighborhood.
Mr. Harriman said his wife covered most of their concerns but wanted to say that he is not comfortable with the dog returning either.
Mrs. Wimberg said she walks a lot and now she walks with her grandchildren when they are with her. She said she would not go on a road if she knew there was a dog there but if she wasn’t aware there was a dog there what would happen to her and her grandchildren. She said she has owned a dog all her life, even one that has bit someone, and she does not feel safe with this dog in the neighborhood.
Mr. Metcalf said he is not here to make light of the situation but there is not thirty feet of road frontage on his property. He said the attack happened right in front of his house. He said he did not witness the attack but was told the dog broke his cable. Mr. Gerow told Mr. Kehoe not to move and he would get the dog, he does not believe the dog would have attacked if Mr. Kehoe hadn’t backed up.
Mr. Metcalf said he has dug a three-foot hole in his back yard, put in a bell shape hitch and poured five bags of concrete in the hole. He said he bought a heavy logging chain to hitch the dog and would keep the dog in the house except to go to the bathroom if he had to.
Mrs. Harriman asked how he would get the dog to the hitch without incident. Mr. Metcalf said he bought two different kinds of muzzles, the heaviest leash and heaviest collar he could find. He said he is not a vicious dog but his breed gets a bad rap, he is a good dog. He said he takes responsibility for the shots not being up to date.
Mr. Cole asked Mr. Metcalf if he was aware of the previous attack by another dog. Mr. Metcalf said yes, he was watching his sisters dog and one day when he returned home from work the dog was in the yard, she had broke her tether. He said as soon as he got in the house the phone rang and it was Mr. Harriman. He said he decided he couldn’t keep her so found a good home for her in Windsor. Mr. Metcalf said Mr. Harriman assured him the child was fine.
Mrs. Harriman said the dog lunges daily as she goes to the end of her driveway to get her mail. She said she has never heard Mr. Metcalf tell the dog not to do that. She said she no longer feels she could protect herself if this dog attacked her after seeing Mr. Kehoe attacked.
Mr. Metcalf noted that since Mr. & Mrs. Harriman moved to the neighborhood they have not made any attempt to get to know the dog and he feels if they had the dog would be fine with them.
Mr. Fuller said he is surprised the dog was released back into the neighborhood before the hearing was held without the neighbors knowing. He said obviously, this is a very dangerous situation but it is the owner’s responsibility to be in 100% control of their dog on his or her property. He said if the dog is allowed to go back the requirement should be it is kept in a steel cage because what happens if the collar breaks.
Mr. Newton said Mrs. Harriman called him Tuesday and he told her the dog was being released on Wednesday. Mrs. Harriman said she was not told that. She said she called Chief Brown, he said to call the dog warden, as he was not able to make that decision. She said when she asked Mr. Newton he said yes, it had been ten days and it could not be held anymore. Mr. Cobb asked to focus on the issue, is this a vicious dog or not.
Mr. Newton said that per the Town ordinance the dog automatically classifies as a vicious dog, Mr. Cobb said he did not agree with that.
Mrs. Esty said the Health Officer is suppose to be the one to release the dog as he is the one to quarantine the dog and do the investigation.
Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Gerow why he told Mr. Kehoe to stop. Mr. Gerow said he was leaving and saw the lead to the dog snap. He said he hollered to the dog to stop, the dog stopped. He said that after Mr. Kehoe stopped he backed up so the dog attacked. Mr. Cobb asked if he had information previously dealing with the dog to know to tell the person to stop. Mr. Gerow said no, it is common knowledge to stop if a dog is chasing you. Mr. Kehoe said if a dog is running at you you’d move too. He said it was a good eight to ten seconds before the dog released him.
Mr. Cliff Harriman said he is the son of the Harriman’s and feels it is important to consider the patterns. He said people have to drastically change their behavior around this animal. He said when he first saw the dog he thought he would have to change his behavior. He said Mr. Kehoe felt the same by walking on the other side of the road and not going near the property. He said Rottweiler’s are designed to protect or attack.
Mr. Gerow said he was at the vet when the dog was weighed and he weighs 94lbs.
Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Metcalf if he only had one dog, Mr. Metcalf said yes. Mr. Cobb asked what commands he has been trained to. Mr. Metcalf said sit, come, normally stops, and roll over. Mr. Gerow said Mr. Newton told him this dog is not a vicious dog. He said at the house if a child is going for something they are not suppose to and they are disciplined by a parent the dog will stand up and take notice more apt to protect children.
Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Metcalf why he bought the dog, Mr. Metcalf said he was given to him.
Mr. Snyder asked at what point this becomes a criminal issue. Chief Brown said there is a Town ordinance so it is a Select Board issue. Mr. Snyder asked if it involved death would the police be involved, Chief Brown said that has never happened but he assumes so.
Mr. Newton said this dog showed no aggression with him or the other dogs at the vet. He said the dog is trainable.
Mr. Kehoe said if the dog is in an enclosed environment he is a good dog but again, this was an unprovoked attack and it will happen again in the future.
Mrs. Wimberg said that if the dog remains at the home she assumes that the Town is saying it is safe to walk down there even with children.
Mr. Gerow asked is it a vicious dog or is it an isolated incident.
Mr. Fuller asked if the Board would make an announcement tonight, Mr. Cobb said no.
Mr. Cliff Harriman asked if the Board was considering other methods of containing this animal. Mr. Cobb said the ordinance allows the Board to do what is reasonable to protect the Townspeople.
Mr. Cole read the definition of a vicious animal as defined in the ordinance.
Mrs. Harriman asked the Board to go over this as thoroughly and rapidly as possible. Mrs. Wimberg said especially given the fact that the dog has been lunging at people for days, months and years.
Mr. Metcalf said Mr. Kehoe has been jogging by there for two years and must have been comfortable.
Mr. Snyder asked if the dog is not destroyed if the Town was open for a legal issue. Mr. Donahue said that if a suit is filed he believes it could be difficult to pursue.
Mr. Kehoe said it was ironic he was talking to his wife just the other day about a pitbull in one direction and a rottweiler in the other. He asked the Board to look at the photos.
Mr. Metcalf said Mr. Newton has photos he would like the Board to look at too and it is now in their hands to make a decision.
The Public Hearing was closed at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Sargent
Approved by the Weathersfield Select Board on August 3, 2006
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Daniel Boyer
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Henry C. Cobb
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C. Peter Cole
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Patricia Daniels