Longmeadow to consider bylaw Tuesday defining dangerous dogs

LONGMEADOW — The town’s attorney may be opposed, but Longmeadow resident Sally M. Hage hopes voters do something about dangerous dogs at Tuesday’s Town Meeting.

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Hage is the sponsor of a proposed bylaw that would allow the Select Board to place restrictions on dogs that attack humans or pets. In a memo, the town’s legal consultant said parts of Hage’s proposal are vague or overlap with state law.

But Hage claims that without such a bylaw, Longmeadow is failing to keep its residents and pets safe from dog attacks.

“They’re not doing enough to maintain the safety of the community and the pets they love,” Hage said. “I’m trying to make sure we prevent harm to our community.”

Her quest began at home. Hage said her 10-pound Havanese dog, Sophie, was attacked by a large mastiff whose owners acknowledged that the animal “doesn’t like other dogs.” Hage said she too was injured while rescuing Sophie from the mastiff, incurring costs for physical therapy for herself and veterinary care for her dog.

She said she later learned Sophie wasn’t the first dog the mastiff attacked.

“If something had been done when that dog killed another dog, then my dog would have been protected,” Hage said. “I wouldn’t have heard my dog crying each night for two weeks because she was in pain, even though she was taking pain pills.”

While campaigning around town for her bylaw, Hage said she’s learned about other dog attacks. Another dog in her neighborhood was almost killed when an aggressive German shepherd escaped a gated yard.

“There’s so many stories out there,” she said. “I believe, in many cases, they’re not reported.”

Hage said her proposal does not target any particular breed of dog. Only individual dogs could be labeled as “dangerous,” and only after meeting one of four criteria: they inflict bodily injury, unprovoked; they exhibit “repeated unprovoked aggressive or menacing behavior”; they have been trained or used for fighting; or they were declared dangerous in another community.

The bylaw says a dog cannot be blamed for aggression if it was being attacked, teased or provoked, or was protecting a person, animal or property in its household from assault or invasion.

After receiving a written complaint, the Select Board would conduct a hearing to determine if the dog is dangerous. The board’s decision could be appealed to district court.

The proposed bylaw requires the owners of a dangerous dog to keep it in a secure enclosure, such as an area surrounded by a fence at least 6 feet high, with securely locked gates. The dog would only be allowed out for veterinary care and legal proceedings; when outside the enclosure, the dog would have to be muzzled and leashed. The owner of the dog would have to take out liability insurance.

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The town’s animal control officer would inspect the enclosure at least twice a year. Dangerous dogs found outside their enclosure would be impounded, and the owner subject to fines. After a dog is labeled dangerous, if it inflicts a severe or fatal injury, the town can order it euthanized after conducting a hearing.

In a letter to the Select Board, Stephen J. Chaplin of the law firm Mead, Talerman & Costa LLC said if Town Meeting passes Hage’s proposed bylaw, the attorney general may reject it.

Hage’s definition of “dangerous dog” is different from the wording in state law, Chaplin said, and other sections of the bylaw resemble state law without echoing it. He said state law already gives Longmeadow’s Select Board the authority to regulate dangerous dogs.

Town Manager Lyn N. Simmons said the Select Board received Chaplin’s letter, but has not taken a stance on the proposal.

Hage said the town needs a dog bylaw, noting that there hasn’t been local enforcement without one. She said she based the wording of her proposal on active bylaws in other Massachusetts towns.

“There is nothing on the bylaws in Longmeadow other than a ‘nuisance dog,’” she said. “Even dogs that kill another dog, or attack an elderly individual … the only word they have is ‘nuisance dog.’ A dog that attacks repeatedly or kills another dog is not a nuisance dog, it’s a dangerous dog.”

Other business at session

Also at the Town Meeting on Tuesday voters will be asked to approve a $93.38 million town budget, an increase of 5.66% from the previous year; to create a municipal light department, as a prelude to building a town-owned broadband internet utility; to clarify rules and increase fines for failing to clear snow from sidewalks and fire hydrants after a storm; to ban cryptocurrency ATMs in town; and to adopt standards for ground-mounted solar panels on residential properties; in addition to other matters.

Any registered voter in Longmeadow may attend and participate in the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the high school gymnasium at 95 Grassy Gutter Road in Longmeadow.

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