Tisbury town leaders hope the long saga of the Garde family’s chicken-killing dogs is over. But if his recent actions are any guide, Ken Garde thinks differently.

The selectmen have banned three of the family’s dogs from the town. A judge has twice backed their actions. The town now plans to enforce the order to get the dogs out of Tisbury.

And Mr. Garde’s response? He recently reregistered the dogs.

He also took out papers to run again for his long-held seat on the town board of health.

Over the past two years, the cost to the town of dealing with the three huskies belonging to Mr. Garde and two of his children is estimated at some $15,000, and counting.

Even now, the billable hours are ticking up, as the town seeks counsel’s advice on how to enforce its order that the Gardes remove their dogs from town.

And then there is the cost of Mr. Garde himself. When the selectmen decided 14 years ago to drop health coverage for board members, they grandfathered the entitlement, so serving members continued to receive it, while newly-elected members did not.

And so by virtue of his long service on the board of health, Mr. Garde is one of just a handful of members of town boards whose health insurance is covered. Mr. Garde has not yet returned his papers; if he does decide to run, the dispute over his dogs is expected to be a factor.

Tisbury has now banned five dogs, all huskies, all for the same reason — multiple escapes from the Garde family’s West Spring street property and the mauling and killing of poultry – although not all the dogs are owned by Mr. Garde himself.

The long saga began with Kenneth and Nina Garde’s Storm, who was the subject of multiple complaints involving escapes and raids on poultry flocks around Vineyard Haven. Storm was banned from town in September 2008 and moved to a temporary home in Oak Bluffs, from which he quickly escaped and killed 15 chickens.

He eventually was taken off-Island.

Next to go was daughter Rebecca’s dog Mussa, who accompanied Storm on some of his raids, including the one in Oak Bluffs. She was banned too, and then moved off-Island with her owner.

That left three dogs: Sundance, owned by Ken and Nina Garde; Sasha, owned by their son Daniel; and Kya, owned by their daughter Hannah.

On Oct. 13, the selectmen decided to ban them from town too, after repeated escapes and poultry killings.

Last month, Mr. Garde appealed the ban. But in court, Tisbury town counsel argued that the appeal was past the deadline, and district court clerk-magistrate Liza Williamson agreed. Mr. Garde appealed the decision to district court Judge Joseph Macy. The judge also ruled that it was too late.

Mr. Garde filed another appeal, challenging the selectmen’s decision not to reopen the case. Two weeks ago Judge Macy found against him on that one.

Tisbury town administrator John Bugbee said this week he hoped the matter was over.

“I think there’s nothing left to say about the court case. Now it’s an issue of enforcement,” he said.

But there are legalities to consider about whether town officials can go onto the Garde property to enforce the order.

“It’s a very complicated legal question. I don’t have an answer to it yet,” Mr. Bugbee said.