— el Shea, J_' 129 College St Hadley, MA. suthanized." GOGRET NUWBER Trial Court of Massachusetts Lice 1798CV000178 District Court Department wy ‘SISERATE Apri Marion v. Michael J Sulivan As he is South Hadley Town Administrator TTORNEY OR PRO SETART) TOWN THB GOFY OF NOTE STUD COURT OEE ADDRESS Eoward J Ryan, Jr, Esa Eastern Hampshire District Court Ryan & Boudreau LLP 205 State Street Belchertown, MA 01007 ORDER ter trial, | find that Plaintiff, Town of South Hadley, has met their burden of proof that Ziggy is a dangerous dog, as defined in the statute, and affirm the Town's order that the dog be humanely A copy of the full Findings and Order is attached bei jing sent to all parties. NOTICE OF ENTRY OF ORDER This Order has been entered on the docket on the “Date Order Entered" shown below and this notice is 7 | oate esueD December 1, 2017 “WUOGE SGUING ORDER CLERIC MAGISTAATEISST. CLERK William P Nagle Twn mass govicours ‘alae PTO Te STR)Filed DEC 01 2017 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Easter Hampshire Distiick Cour HAMPSHIRE, SS DISTRICT COURT DEPARTMENT EASTERN HAMPSHIRE DIVISION Docket No. 1798CV0178 TOWN OF SOUTH HADLEY Plaintiff, v. FINDINGS AND ORDER OF THE COURT ADOG NAMED ZIGGY, OWNED BY APRIL MARION Defendant, This matter is before the court as a de novo trial pursuant to G. L. ¢. 140, § 157 regarding an alleged dangerous dog. After trial, I find that Plaintiff, Town of South Hadley, has met their burden of proof that Ziggy is a dangerous dog, as defined in the statute, and affirm the Town's order that the dog be humanely euthanized. (DARD OF REVIEW Any finding at a de novo trial that a dog is a “dangerous dog” must be based upon “credible evidence and testimony presented at trial.” G. L. ¢. 140, § 157 (0. FINDINGS OF FACT | make the following findings of fact based upon the credible evidence and reasonable inferences derived therefrom, presented at trial: Ms. April Marion was the owner of Tiara, a female St. Bernard dog, In 2014, Tiara had 13 puppies, one of whom was named Ziggy. The other twelve dogs were sent to homes, but Ms. Marion kept Ziggy for herself. In January of 2017, Dr. Galusha, a trained veterinary doctor, performed a castration procedure on Ziggy at Ms. Marion’s request. Ziggy displayed unusually aggressive behavior during that visit. In February of 2017, Dr. Galusha performed a follow up examination of Zigey athis office. During that visit, Ziggy, without warning, lunged at and attempted to bite Dr. 1Galusha in the face. Dr. Galusha’s actions toward Ziggy did not provoke or warrant such a response. But for Dr. Galusha’s quick, reflexive movement, he would have been bitten by Ziggy. Despite the delicate nature of the type of examination, 99% of dogs would not have responded in the aggressive manner Ziggy displayed. Ziggy displayed aggressive tendencies toward Dr. Galusha during his interactions with him such as “fixing on you like prey”, “growling”, “baring teeth” and being “more than willing to bite you.” In Dr. Galusha’s opinion — which I credit - Ziggy’s aggressive behavior and demeanor are not correctible. In 2016, the Town of South Hadley (“Town”) ordered Ms. Marion to “retain $100,000 in liability insurance, to maintain a kennel up to the back door, when dogs are being walked to walk them on a3 foot leash and muzzle them at all times off the property, to have the dogs microchipped and the dogs need to be updated on their rabies vaccine and licensed with the South Hadley Town Clerk.” (Exhibit 4). The order was the result of allegations reccived by the town of multiple bites by Ms. Marion’s dogs - which Ms. Marion denied, (Exhibit 1) ‘On May 19, 2017, Mr. Richard Todrin, a 74 year old man, was walking his dog on a leash, accompanied by his wife Ruth. Mr. Todrin has been a dog owner for thirty-five years. When they got near Ms. Marion’s property at 11 Silver Street, he saw two St. Bemard’s growling, barking, and charging straight at them. One dog, Ziggy, was appreciably bigger than the other dog, Tiara. Exhibit 8. Tiara weighed approximately one-hundred pounds or less. Exhibit 5. Ziggy weighed approximately 157 pounds. Seeking to protect his wife and dog, Mr. Todrin tumed the leash over to his wife and told her to run away. Both dogs continued to charge into the street directly at Mr. Todrin. The dogs were growling and had their teeth bared. The dogs’ aggression had nothing to do with Mr. Todrin’s defensive actions to resist their charge. Further, the dogs were not in compliance with the Town’s restrictions regarding how the dogs were to be secured on the property, and Ms. Marion admitted in her testimony that even though she was not the one who put them in their kennel, the dogs “got out” and “somehow escaped.” Zigay got to Mr. Todrin ahcad of Tiara and immediately started biting and attacking Mr. Todrin. Mr. Todrin tried to defend himself, but Ziggy was successful in biting Mr. Todrin on his left hand, thumb and pinky. Mr. Todrin also suffered other scratches. Mr. Todrin’s son drove acar into the area shortly after Mr. Todrin suffered injuries and was able to use the car to direct the dogs back toward the driveway. At no time was Mr. Todrin on Ms. Marion’s property. Sgt. Robert Whelihan of the South Hadley police department responded to the scene on. Silver Street at approximately 11:45 a.m. When he arrived, Ziggy and Tiara were “worked up” and running up and down the driveway barking. Mr. Todrin had already left the area. Two adult bicyclists rode into the area shortly after the officer arrived. The male bicyclist turned onto Silver Street, at which point Ziggy charged out at him from the driveway and into the roadway, with Tiara following behind. The male bicyclist was able to pedal away, but the female bicyclist, who was riding behind the male, then became the focus of the dogs’ attention. ‘The dogs charged at her, causing her to flee toward the police officer. Officer Whelihan pulled out his Taser and ran toward the female bicyclist, while screaming at the dogs. The dogs then charged at Officer Whelihan. The dogs continued “bouncing up and down” and barking in front of Officer Whelihan, who was still pointing his Taser at them, He yelled at the dogs to “go home” and eventually the dogs moved toward their driveway. Officer Whelihan then moved his police cruiser up toward the driveway and got out of his vehicle. Ziggy and Tiara charged at the officer's car. The officer blared his car’s hom in an attempt to move the dogs back toward the driveway. Ziggy was the more aggressive dog of the two throughout their interactions with Officer Whelifan. Officer Raymond Faginski also responded to the scene and met with Mr. Todrin, who was being tended to by EMT staff. He took a statement from Mr. Todrin and then went to meet with Sgt. Whelihan. Officer Faginski noted Ziggy and Tiara were still barking, charging, and in an agitated state at that time, so he used his police car to more completely box in the dogs. Officer Faginski met with Mr. McClure who resided with the dogs’ owner, Ms. Marion. Mr. McClure apologized for the dogs” actions and Mr. McClure returned the dogs into the residence. LEGAL ANALYSIS After trial, and upon review of the findings above, I am satisfied that the Town has met its burden through credible evidence and testimony presented that Ziggy is a “dangerous dog” as. referred to in G.L. ¢. 140, § 157. The Town has sought the remedy of having Ziggy “humanely 3euthanized” as allowed by the statute. Such an extreme remedy is not one to be taken lightly or without consideration of other alternatives. Here, the Town had previously sought to protect the citizenry and also allow for the peaceable enjoyment of Ziggy by her owner, through intermediary restrictions on Ziggy. Despite the efforts of the Town and Ms. Marion, the parties Were unable to successfully follow through on those restrictions, and protect Mr. Todrin from very serious injuries. Further, Mrs. Todrin, innocent bicyclists, and Town police officers were also put at risk of very serious injury from an aggressive, threatening Zigey on that day. CONCLUSION In consideration of all the facts and circumstances, and in accord with the law as set out by our Legislature, I hereby affirm the request of the Town of South Hadley to humanely euthanize Ziggy. ‘So Ordered, tat She DATED: November 28, 2017 Associate Justice ~ District Court