Dog Bite Trial Continued

The owners and family friends of a 3-year-old pit bull, Dugg, described the dog as friendly and playful at the trial yesterday in Westborough District Court.

Shrewsbury town officials have testified that Dugg is vicious and a nuisance, and should be destroyed after he got loose from his fenced in yard and attacked another dog in September of 2010.

Christopher and Lisa J. O'Connor, of 19 Knowlton Ave., are owners of Dugg who was charged by the town as being a nuisance by reason of vicious disposition and ordered the dog to be euthanized after an Oct. 14 hearing.

The O'Connors appealed the decision to the clerk magistrate in Westborough District Court in December. After a hearing, Assistant Clerk Magistrate Dennis P. Sargeant denied the petition to overturn the selectmen's decision.

The judge heard testimony from witnesses for the defense, which included three family friends and a volunteer veterinary technologist who works at the Milton Shelter, where the O'Connors adopted Dugg earlier in 2010.

"He is a very playful dog," said Meaghan Brickhouse, who saw him on Saturdays for up to an hour at the Milton Shelter. "I saw no aggressive behavior with other dogs."

Brickhouse also testified that Dugg was a stray when he came to the shelter and didn't exhibit any behavior that indicated he was abused by a previous owner.

"When we raised our hand to him, he didn't cower," she said. "Any dog is capable of aggression, but I never saw that in Dugg."

Danielle Hanlon, a family friend of the O'Connors, testified that she has visited Dugg's home on many occassions and always found the dog to be well-behaved.

"Dugg always plays with my 10-year-old son and he licks him," Hanlon said. "I never got a vibe of uncomfortableness."

Jeanne Ferguson, of Leominster, dog sat Dugg and the O'Connor's other dog, Nina, for about 10 days in August of 2010.

"Dog responded to commands like 'sit' and 'go home,' which meant for him to go into his crate for the night," she said. "He is very friendly and showed no aggression towards anyone."

When walking the dog, Ferguson and her husband Brian, said a neighbor came up to them and asked if she could pet Dugg. "He was very well-behaved and sat when she pet him," Jeanne Ferguson said.

Chris O'Connor, who owns Dugg, also testified saying that there are four gates on his property and up until then, there was never a problem of the dog getting out of the yard.

Since the incident, O'Connor said he has added more precautions like wire and rope around each fence latch as well as more fencing near the bottom of the existing fence to make it close to impossible for the dogs to get out of the yard.

He also testified that Dugg was returned to the Milton Shelter from September to Thanksgiving of last year, after the incident. Since November of 2010, the dog has resided at the O'Connor home, but he has not been allowed out of the house unless on a leash and is only walked in the backyard, with a leash.

"I've taken him out of the yard only to go to the vet and to dog training classes," O'Connor said. "We've begun to introduce a muzzle to be used with Dugg as well."

O'Connor also testified that Dugg was always gentle, playful and never hostile or aggressive to other dogs or people while at the shelter and in his home.

Town Attorney Philip Leader asked O'Connor if some neighbors had told him they were afraid.

"They testified here, but they never said it to me," he said.

Leader asked of a past incident with another dog that was owned by O'Connor. "There was a dog named Steve that attacked a postal worker?" Leader asked.

"There was a scratch," O'Connor said.

Defense Attorney Stephen Wise objected to the question about a past incident, and the judge decided to wait on ruling on the objection until the next date for the trial.

The attorneys and the judge agreed to continue the trial until Friday, April 15 at 2 p.m.