Board denies return of Luna; puppy Sammy allowed back under final dangerous-animal agreement

The Lafayette board on Aug. 27 denied an appeal to return Luna, a dog seized Aug. 23 after two separate incidents in which neighbors reported dog bites, and approved returning a second dog, Sammy, under a final dangerous-animal agreement with strict conditions. The appeal was filed by owner Virginia Medrano and heard at the meeting.

Animal Control Officer Mitchell Burchfield testified that he responded to an Aug. 8 call about two dogs running at large and biting a neighbor, and that a dangerous-animal agreement was issued for both animals because the specific offending dog could not be identified. "The call came in as 2 dogs that had bit someone on their own or off their own property," Burchfield said. He said one victim, identified in reports as Edward Rolle, sustained puncture wounds to the top and palm of his hand after reaching to check a dog's collar, and that photographs in the animal-control packet show puncture wounds consistent with dog bites.

Burchfield described a second, Aug. 23 incident…