An Edgartown district court judge recently upheld the decision of the Oak Bluffs selectmen to order two dogs euthanized.
The Hon. J. Thomas Kirkman, first justice of the district court, issued decisions affirming the town’s actions on April 13, after a two-day hearing in which 10 witnesses testified. The hearing followed a hearing before Dukes County superior court clerk-magistrate Joseph Sollitto. Mr. Sollitto also upheld the selectmen’s decision.
The two dogs are mixed breed pit bull-labradors. One is owned by Hillary Seaton, and the other by her daughter Kaitlyn. Both dogs were staying at Hillary Seaton’s home on Worcester avenue in Oak Bluffs last November when they got out of the house and attacked a small dog being walked on a leash by John Stevenson, who lives nearby. The dog required surgery for life-threatening injuries, according to testimony in court. The owner was also treated at the hospital for dog bites after he tried to intervene in the attack.
The owner of one of the dogs that attacked had been cited previously for leash law violations.
Judge Kirkman ruled that the dogs are dangerous and should be destroyed.
Witnesses who testified at the hearing included Karen Ogden, a certified dog trainer on the Island who had assessed Kaitlyn Seaton’s dog. She told the court in her opinion the dog would need 24-hour management every day of the year.
“I find that Kaitlyn Seaton could not provide such management,” the judge wrote.
The two dogs had been in the custody of the Oak Bluffs animal control officer since December and were due to be euthanized this week.
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