The Templeton select board found at a Sept. 10 dangerous-dog hearing that two dogs known as Daisy and Sprinkles were dangerous after a June attack that injured a pedestrian and his dog, the animal control officer recounted.
According to the animal control officer’s account presented at the hearing, on June 15 at about 6:30 p.m. the officer responded to 33 Lake Ave where Brian Fitzpatrick was walking his dog, Bailey, past 18 Lake Ave when two dogs jumped the gate, ran out and attacked Bailey. Neighbors separated the dogs by kicking and using a 2x4, and the attacking dogs were reported not to have collars. Both Fitzpatrick and Bailey were injured.
The officer said Fitzpatrick went to Haywood Hospital the evening of the incident and was diagnosed with a fractured left middle finger and lacerations to his right hand; he received antibiotics and had a scheduled appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. The officer said Bailey went to Tufts Veterinary Hospital with several lacerations, puncture wounds around the head and neck, and a broken dewclaw, and that Bailey received wound cleaning, a rabies booster and medication.
At the hearing the town assessed penalties requiring confinement and lifetime microchipping. The animal control officer told the board that, at the time of the hearing, Sprinkles remained at large. Later follow-up described contact with the dogs’ owner, identified in the animal control account as Melissa, who told the town clerk and animal control that she had licensed Daisy, paid a citation, and had rehomed Sprinkles.
Animal control further reported that on Aug. 18 the owner said she had rehomed Sprinkles, and on Aug. 19 she contacted animal control after being asked about Sprinkles’ status. On Aug. 20 an animal control officer spoke with the owner, who said she had rehomed Sprinkles about three weeks earlier to “somebody on Craigslist,” that she did not have the person’s full contact information, and that she believed the buyer’s name was Mark or Mike and that the transfer happened in a Walmart parking lot.
The transcript does not record a criminal charge or identify any prosecutorial action; it records the select board’s dangerous-dog determination and the penalties directed by the board. The owner’s statement that she rehomed Sprinkles through Craigslist was reported by the animal control officer; the transcript does not include independent verification of the new custodian or the dog’s current location.
The select board’s dangerous-dog determination, the animal-control report of injuries and the owner’s statements about rehoming are all recorded in the hearing transcript.