Fates of dogs decided (Falmouth, MA)

[Rene Allegrini]

Falmouth selectmen order Rottweilers put down

FALMOUTH — Two Rottweilers that attacked four children and a teacher's aide May 24 will be euthanized, the selectmen ruled last night.
Teaticket School principal Michael Arth explained in cool, measured tones the assaults on the playground and school sidewalk before asking the selectmen to euthanize Maya, a 7-month-old puppy, and Sinbad, 2, both owned by Laura Warren.

Earlier attacks
In May, animal control cited Warren for her dogs being loose after they escaped a broken stockade fence and charged a mother and her 4-year-old son at the Teaticket School. They also cited her for the dogs not being vaccinated and for being unlicensed.
One dog had the boy by the pants. His mother had him by the upper body, Arth testified.
"The child was lifted up and was actually horizontal to the ground," he told the selectmen.


The animals were returned to Warren because there was no law that allowed the town to confiscate them. But she was ordered to keep them in quarantine in a confined space or under her control.
Two days later, the animals were let out into the yard and broke out again, this time running into a pack of third-graders out at recess.
Sinbad grabbed a 9-year-old girl by the back and dragged her to the ground, according to Labossiere's statement to police.
When Sinbad attempted to bite the girl again, Labossiere put her arm between the dog and the child, getting bitten in the process.
"After the first child went down in the clutches of the dog, we made the decision to have the children run as fast as they could into the school," Arth said.
Maya went after a group of children, biting two boys who tried to run away from the dogs, according to the victims' accounts.
After 10 days in quarantine, the dogs have displayed no signs of rabies, indicating the victims will not have to undergo rabies shots.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pb...NEWS/706050320

And, more on the story today:

Rottweiler owner plans to appeal

By Amanda Lehmert
STAFF WRITER
June 06, 2007

FALMOUTH — The owner of two Rottweilers will appeal the selectmen's decision to require her dogs be euthanized, her lawyer said yesterday.

Laura Warren's dogs, puppy Maya and Sinbad, 2, broke out of the 6-foot fence at 16 Pearl Lane and attacked children at the nearby Teaticket School May 24, according to witness accounts. Three children and one teacher's aide were bitten.

Warren did not attend Monday's selectmen's meeting, when board members voted unanimously to have the dogs put down. Her attorney, Christopher G. Lebherz, said he was led to believe by town officials that the hearing would be continued to another date when he was able to attend, as he requested in writing.

Lebherz said Warren was denied due process, and he will appeal the case in Falmouth District Court.

"This young lady is very upset about what has happened. She cares for animals. There is a different side to the story,"
Lebherz said. "Euthanization was ordered way too quickly and it was an emotional response to a difficult situation."
Warren could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Lebherz called the selectmen's order to euthanize the dogs a "done deal," saying his client was asked to voluntarily have Maya and Sinbad put down before the hearing took place.

"It certainly wasn't a fair and impartial hearing," he said.

The selectmen denied Lebherz's request to continue the hearing Monday night. "We have a very serious public safety issue here and I don't think postponing it would be smart," Selectman May "Pat" Flynn said at the meeting.

The attorney said he will request that the dogs' temperament be evaluated by an animal behavior expert before anyone decides they must be put down.

It's an idea that has some support.

Assistant animal control officer Debra Rogers said the puppy Maya could be adoptable to a responsible owner.

Lebherz said there had never been any complaints about the Rottweilers before the incidents at Teaticket School last month. Warren repaired her broken fence over the weekend, he said.

And although Warren was given citations because the dogs were unlicensed and not vaccinated when they were found loose, Lebherz said the puppy had up-to-date shots.

Warren is a lifelong animal lover who worked for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Lebherz said.

But Lebherz said Warren was fired from her job because of the incident with her Rottweilers.

"She accepts responsibility, but she just doesn't want to see the dogs euthanized," Lebherz said.

The dogs are being held by Falmouth Animal Control pending Warren's 10-day window to appeal the selectmen's decision.

Amanda Lehmert can be reached at alehmert@capecodonline.com.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pb...NEWS/706060331

[hokisteph5]

I'm having a hard time believing Ms. Warren cares so much about her animals.

[poohbearsmom]

This woman needs to be lynched.