Published: 8/3/2023 12:04:04 PM
DEERFIELD — The Select Board just recently chose to stick to its harmful dog classification for Theo, a 7-year-old terrific pyrenees, after getting a behavioral expert’s report.
Having formerly extended the dog hearing up until it received the report, the Select Board bought owner Kate Clayton-Jones to set up a fence embedded a minimum of 2 feet into the ground on her Greenfield Road property and offer evidence of insurance coverage of a minimum of $100,000 — or reveal an affordable effort of attempting to get the insurance coverage, which is likewise enabled under state law.
Despite the report, Select Board members Tim Hilchey and Carolyn Shores Ness — Trevor McDaniel stayed away due to missing out on the very first dog hearing in June — said they felt the 2 events on April 7 and May 10, in which Theo apparently bit Deerfield Police Sgt. Jennifer Bartak and Patriot Properties staff member James King, were major adequate to require a “dangerous designation.” Clayton-Jones was not present throughout either event.
“I feel that there’s nothing that was presented to me that would change my opinion that the dog is dangerous because there’s no guarantee the owner won’t be there,” Hilchey said. “There’s no guarantee the dog won’t be outside the fence unsupervised and apparently that’s when the dog is triggered. It acts like a protector dog and that’s what’s happened twice now.”
Shores Ness said it is important that the fencing be preserved since of the prospective threat of Theo getting away and there are times where Clayton-Jones might not be home in the future.
“Who’s to say those conditions wouldn’t exist again? Somebody would be at risk,” Shores Ness said. “I feel like we need to have that requirement of fencing.”
Shores Ness at first just wished to enforce the fence condition since she felt getting insurance coverage would be hard, however Town Counsel Matthew Provencher explained that evidence of an affordable effort would likewise be sufficient if Clayton-Jones is not able to discover an insurance plan.
In the month given that the very first public hearing, Clayton-Jones has actually strengthened the fencing around the Greenfield Road property, which has actually been examined by Animal Control Officer Calin Giurgiu. She likewise said she has actually published cautions on her fence that Theo is an animals dog.
Jeremy Cohen, a lawyer representing Clayton-Jones, recommended the board consider Theo a problem dog rather, particularly since “the consequence of violating the order is the same.”
The Select Board, nevertheless, stuck to its initial classification since of how the 2 events played out and since 2 town staff members were apparently bitten while they were working.
“These are two town employees that have gone to the property in the normal exercise of their duties,” Hilchey said, “and come back injured or fearing they’re going to be injured.”
The very first attack, on April 7, happened when Bartak was contacted us to the community for a report of a loose dog, which ended up being Theo. Upon getting here, Bartak said she knocked on the door of the residence and Theo rounded the corner. She talked calmly to him, however Theo started grumbling. As she was pulling away to her cruiser, Theo bit her left calf and after that “more aggressively” on her inner thigh. The injuries called for a journey to the emergency clinic since of the depth of the bites and an anti-bacterial clean.
The 2nd event happened on May 10, when King approached your house to look at an authorization. King said Theo appeared friendly, however bit his leg when he walked around the rear end of your house to knock on another door.
Chris Larabee can be reached at [email protected] or 413-930-4081.
