Dog Declared Vicious by Selectmen

Days may be numbered for a two-year-old German Shepard named Nicco, who went on a rampage in March and sent a woman cyclist to the hospital with multiple injuries.

Selectmen, in an unprecedented move, unanimously declared the dog to be vicious Wednesday night at the request of the animal control officer, setting in motion a ten-day appeal period. The owner, David Arno, can elect to come before them during that time, but once a dog is declared vicious, options are few - it must be euthanized, completely confined, or shipped out of town for good. The case can also end up in court.

In this instance, Animal Control Officer Jeff Collins was firm.

"I am asking that the dog be euthanized," he said.

Collins has not made that request to the board before, but said the attack was completely unprovoked and the injuries were significant.

The Ware Street incident happened March 30, when Eugenia Drive resident Orysia Petrosh was riding her bike past a home at 792 Ware Street. The 75-pound male dog ran from the yard across the street, lunged for her leg, and bit her twice, once so severely she required 11 stitches. She fell to the ground with such force that she broke her foot in three places, according to reports given by the victim.

The only other witness was a UPS truck driver, who had just made a delivery. The dog had run up to the truck, and then run back to the yard of the house. As Petrosh rode by and waved to the driver, the dog came back around the truck and went for her. The driver intervened with a can of Mace as Petrosh lay on the ground, and managed to keep the dog at bay.

The sheaf of reports included those of reserve officer Steve Simonds, who assists Collins, and police officer William Trudell, who responded to the call for help along with Simonds. Collins himself was not on duty. First on the scene, however, was off-duty police officer Brian Thibault, who had been driving by on his way to work.

"This was a deep bite, and there were multiple bites," said Collins. He told the board the old dog law is "a bit ambiguous" in its language, and says the dog officer can declare the dog vicious on his own. "I didn't feel comfortable declaring it directly," Collins said.

Board member George Dentino pressed for more details, saying he wanted to hear from the owner. "I would want to hear if this is a first offense, how did it escape," he said.

But Jess Aptowitz said he was disturbed that the dog was still at his owner's house, confined, even though he had been quarantined for 10 days as is required by law.

"It concerns me that the dog is out," he said. "It's really like it was before it happened - it's at home."

Collins said he himself had met the dog twice, but remained convinced that the attack was so serious in nature that even shipping the dog out of town for someone else to deal with is not the answer.

"This dog is a danger," he said.

The board, minus members Doug Annino and Olivier Kozlowski, who were absent, voted to serve Arno with notice that his dog has been declared vicious. Arno can call for a hearing within ten days.