I could hear the barking and screaming from inside my house, even though the doors and windows were closed. I knew right away it was a dog attack -- once you hear one, you never forget the sound, and I've heard more attacks than I ever thought I would. I looked quickly out the door and could see someone out in the street yelling and fighting off our neighbors' large dogs. I grabbed my 16 year old son and a broom in case I had to beat off the dogs and we ran outside. The neighbors' dogs had run off -- in fact, they were completely gone and had apparently been let back inside our neighbor's home, with no one coming out to see what happened, even though the attack was extremely loud and directly visible from their home. The 18 year old boy from another house down the street was standing in my front yard, holding his family's tiny pet poodle Lola. The neighbor's large dogs had attacked and killed her.
This terrible night happened earlier in April. The police and animal control were here for a long time investigating, taking photos, writing reports and knocking on the door of the woman who owns the large dogs, who had no idea her dogs had gotten out and hadn't heard anything. The young man walking Lola was home on his own over April vacation, while his parents and younger siblings went on a short trip, since he had to work and had a school project. We called his family with the devastating news, and they immediately ended their vacation and drove back overnight. They buried Lola the next day.
This was not the first time these dogs have attacked other dogs and even people in our neighborhood. The police have been out several times over the last few years taking reports of attacks and injuries, yet there had never been a dangerous dog hearing. The dogs have run out of their yard and into mine several times, charging at me and my dog; it was only my past experience with how to handle large dogs that stopped them. In sharing our stories and concerns, I learned from two separate neighbors that they stopped walking in the neighborhood years ago and bought treadmills to walk at home due to their fear of these dogs.
My questions to the Town Manager the next day was "What do we need to do to get a dog hearing? Why didn't the police reports and animal control reports from past attacks ever result in a hearing? Can't the police and animal control initiate a hearing? If not, why didn't they tell us after past attacks what we needed to do?" One neighbor paid thousands of dollars for medical treatment for her dog after an attack by these same dogs, yet the police never told her the process for a dangerous dog hearing. The Town Manager was responsive, and new procedures have been put in place to notify the Assistant Town Manager when the police or animal control are called for a serious dog attack.
Here are your rights under Massachusetts law (Part I, Title XX, Chapter 140, Section 157): Any person may file a complaint in writing to the hearing authority that a dog owned or kept in the city or town is a nuisance dog or a dangerous dog. Any person.
There are some limitations -- the complaint can't be based on just growling or barking, it can't be based on just the dog's breed, and it can't be if the dog was reacting to another animal or person that was attacking it, was attacking its owner or property, was tormenting the dog, or was invading the dog's enclosure and was not authorized to be there. To determine the correct hearing authority, just call the Town Clerk and ask. In Westford, it's the Board of Selectmen.
At the dangerous dog hearing, the hearing authority will gather more information and evidence from the complainant and listen to further testimony to decide if the dog is a nuisance or dangerous dog. If the dog is deemed a dangerous dog, there are seven possible remedies that the hearing authority can order, and the dog's owner must comply with the order or lose the ability to license a dog in Massachusetts for 5 years.
If there is a dangerous dog in your neighborhood that has attacked other dogs or people with no provocation, don't wait for someone else to investigate or assume the police or animal control will request a hearing. Don't wait until something awful happens. Submit a written complaint and request that the local authority determine whether the dog is dangerous and how it will be restrained.
