Dog owner defends chained pet at hearing


http://www.dailynewstribune.com
By Nicole Haley/Daily News staff
GHS
Wed Oct 24, 2007

Her voice shaky, Mary Mills described an afternoon in June when a neighborhood dog attacked two of her children.

"I couldn't understand what had happened to cause this much damage to them," said Mills, whose son, Christopher, 8, and daughter, Jamie, 6, were taken for treatment to Children's Hospital on June 11. "They have long-term scars on their bodies and in their minds."

The attack is listed as one of seven incidents since 2005 in which a labrador/pug mix at 3 Tomlin St. allegedly bit people, according to Waltham Police Department records.

Last night, police held a hearing at City Hall to determine if the dog, Ben, is a menace and what should be done with him. Police Capt. Donald Feeney, who supervises the Animal Control Division, heard from several victims and the dog's owner, Carol Howard.

Howard, 67, maintains her dog, "Ben," is kept chained to a run in her yard. She said the dog is protective of her and behaves well when in the house.

"I live alone and count on Ben to keep me company and keep me safe," said Howard, who recently constructed a kennel in the yard.

Lt. Joseph F. Brooks Jr., who ran last night's session, said he was attacked by Ben last month.

After the meeting, Brooks told the News Tribune that Feeney will issue a recommendation on what to do with the dog within the next 10 days. Police have several options including ordering Howard to further restrain the dog, banish it from the city or have it destroyed.

All but one of the bite incidents occurred when people came into Howard's yard. The Mills children were returning from school on June 11 and followed a friend into Howard's yard because the friend forgo his house key and Howard kept a spare for his parents, according to a police report. But when the Mills children came into the yard the dog bit Jamie Mills in the chest and knee and her brother Christopher required three stitches to close a bite wound on his buttocks.

In April 2005, 68-year-old Helen Ellison was going for a walk and passing Howard's home and the dog ran at her breaking his run from its base, according to a report. Ellison said the dog knocked her to the ground and bit her twice on the leg.

"I have been very traumatized by that dog," said Ellison, who added she stopped walking by Howard's house after the incident.

A month before the alleged attack, Ellison's son, David, said he was walking by Howard's home with his children. David Ellison said Howard's son, Robert, was in the yard with the dog and invited the children in to pet Ben and said the dog was friendly. Ellison said the dog grabbed onto his 2-year-old daughter's jacket with his teeth and he had to pull her away.

In another April 2005 incident, the dog allegedly bit a postal worker delivering mail to Howard's front door. In August 2006, Waltham Fire Lt. James Dooley went to Howard's home on a reported power line failure. Dooley said the dog was tied up outside and Howard yelled for him to be careful because the dog had been a "bad boy." Not knowing what she meant, Dooley said he entered the yard and was bitten in the leg.

On Sept. 4, Police Lt. Brooks said he visited Howard's home with Capt. Feeney to talk with her about five documented dog bite incidents. Brooks said the dog came up to him wagging his tail. The dog then bit Brooks in the crotch of his pants.

Carol Howard said she had never heard about some of the bite incidents until she received notice for the hearing. She said she warned Brooks and Feeney she was not sure how Ben would react to men in uniform.

"It's really not my fault that Lt. Brooks did not know how to read a dog's facial expression," she said.

Howard said she adopted Ben from a Hurricane Katrina rescue group and has built a pen and kept the dog restrained in her yard. As ordered by Waltham Animal Control, Howard said she has been keeping Ben muzzled when he is outside. She admitted to violating the order once because she said the muzzle caused Ben to suffer a neck injury and he refused to go outside to eliminate with the muzzle on.

Howard has "Beware of dog" and "No trespassing" signs sticking up from the bushes in front of her yard.

Robert Howard challenged David Ellison's story about the dog attacking his 2-year-old daughter, saying Ben only pulled on the jacket playfully as the girl walked away.

"The dog is a good dog," Robert Howard said, adding that his niece feeds the dogs biscuits by putting them in her mouth and letting Ben take them from her. "He has protected our house and our family. ... It's been a great neighborhood and all of a sudden people want to sue my mother and she has nothing."

Nicole Haley can be reached at nhaley@cnc.com or 781-398-8004.