Family Ordered To Put Up Better Fence, Muzzle Animal, Following 'Dangerous Dog' Hearing

SUDBURY, MA—A Sudbury family was issued regulations and provisions after a Dangerous Dog Hearing was held at the Board of Selectmen meeting on June 5 regarding their dog Boomer.

Based on two complaints, and subsequent response and actions from the Sudbury Police Department and the animal control officer, Lisa Burke of 39 Poplar St. is now required to build a fence, and muzzle Boomer when he is outside of the home. Boomer has been living with the Burkes for more than a year, prior to that on vacations when his technical owner, the Burkes' son, would bring him home from college in South Carolina.

The first incident, according to reports, occurred on Dec. 14, 2016, when Boomer dashed from Lisa's car when she pulled into the garage, running to the street with the Burkes' two other dogs. Boomer allegedly bit a neighbor Sarah Gilford, who was walking by, in the hand, breaking her skin and breaking a bone.

"It was not immediately reported," said Police Chief Scott Nix. "It was reported to the Board of Health on Dec. 23, and to animal control. The animal was placed into quarantine."

As Gilford walked by, Lisa Burke said she was pulling into the garage with three dogs in her car.

"The dogs jumped out, i didn't know Sarah was in the road and all three dogs saw her and went out barking," said Lisa. "The goldens are on an invisible fence. Boomer got excited and went over to her and bit her hand, my husband and son came outside. All three of us were there, and offered her ice and ride home whatever we could to help. She did nothing to provoke the dog. From now on when I pull into the garage I shut the door.

Animal Control Officer Jennifer Condon requested that Boomer immediately be licensed and put in a restraint muzzle. "Going forward, I was told the dog wouldn't be remaining in town," she said. "A couple of months later, another incident occurred that was pretty traumatic, so I requested this dangerous dog hearing. The demeanor of the dog is aggressive. Property aggressive. He snaps at the window and I was reluctant to go up to the house, so I put something in the mailbox. I've been animal control officer for ten years and I've never been afraid of a dog."

Poplar Street, Condon said, is very highly walked by people and other dogs, and she was particularly concerned that there was no second door on the front of the house.

The second incident that led to the dangerous hearing occurred on March 28, 2017, when a ten-year-old boy was bitten on the buttocks when the Burkes' three dogs ran from the front of the house as Lisa opened the front door.

"Mrs. Burke said that she saw the boy on the property and said he had tried to antagonize the dog, and she told him to move along, and didn't realize he had bitten him," said Nix.

Kathleen Rocca, a neighbor who lives a few houses away from the Burke family, spoke about the incident in March, when her son Sam was reportedly bitten. Rocca said that her son has a daily job walking another dog in the neighborhood and often walks by 39 Poplar St. and hears the dogs barking. On the day of the incident, he had allegedly stopped at the property to wait for a friend, who was lagging behind and walking up the street.

"I had a german shepherd growing up and I'm a dog lover," said Rocca. "My son does not antagonize dogs. He slowed down, he was waiting, and the woman started yelling at him because the dog was going wild at the window and said 'move it along,' and she opened the door, and three dogs came running out of him. The german shepherd and one of the goldens came out and as he went across neighbor's fence and was against the fence and the dog started biting him. He kept saying to me, 'why didn't she help me?'"

"That is my son and you stood there and let him be attacked," Rocca said as she turned and looked at Lisa Burke during the hearing. "I have been in therapists trying to help him. He didn't sleep for five days. He lives in this neighborhood and he is terrified. I cannot believe the carelessness of these dog owners. My son has been trained to adore and love dogs. I have zero faith in the responsibility in these dog owners. The dog wasn't licensed until the day after he bit my son. If you can't control an animal that large you should not own it."

Lisa explains that she had been at the gym that day, came home, and was upstairs changing when she heard her three dogs "barking and going crazy."

"I looked out and saw a young man standing on my property in front of my living room window with his arms in the air," she Lisa. "I ran down the stairs and yelled, 'What are you doing? Please move along.' The dogs were riled up and as I was going to shut the door all three went out. I was focused on getting them back. It was chaotic and that's when I think Boomer ran and bit the young man. The dogs never burst out of the front door like that. I was upset at what I had witnessed."

"I spoke with Mrs. Burke and she said the dog was going to be going to Cambridge in May," said Condon. "In May, contact was made and the dog was still in Sudbury with the restrictions I put on it. When I went to the property, I could see the dog in the window being aggressive, snapping its mouth and teeth and not in a nice way."

Condon said that fencing that was installed is "like the kind you purchase at a hardware store, and that is not adequate in my opinion."

Condon said that two other dogs who live there are licensed in the town, as well as another who belongs to the Burkes' daughter that visits, and there have been no incidents involving those dogs. She added that after the first incident occurred with Boomer, his rabies vaccination status was updated, and had lapsed.

Lisa Burke explained to the Board that Boomer was purchased by her son four years ago when he was away at college at the University of South Carolina. Boomer would visit with the son for five weeks at Christmas vacation, spring vacation and summer.

"He graduated in May and decided he had wanted to move back home with us and save money and live with us," said Lisa. It's been 12 months and we've had Boomer with us."

"With the totality of the two incidents," said Chief Nix, "I recommend that it would be appropriate that the board declare the dog a dangerous dog. I recommend a six-foot enclosure, and if the dog is anywhere else or to be leaving, be muzzled and on a leash. And at no time should Boomer be left unattended unless secure in the house. I recommend that a second door be installed on the house so if they open the door there is a barrier."

The Board voted to impose regulations recommended by Nix and Condon.

If those controls are in place and something were to still happen, unfortunately, I would recommend that the dog be put to rest," said Nix.