Marty
11-03-2004, 07:02 AM
Lyndonville, VT -- Selectmen decided to impound a dog that injured four children because its owner did not comply with their requests to constrain it. If the owner does not comply within a week, selectmen voted to have the dog destroyed.
This order did not satisfy Donna Bigelow, mother of one of the four victims.
"I want the dog put down. I think you gave him plenty of chances," Bigelow said during the selectmen's meeting Monday evening.
Selectmen ordered animal control officer Cindy Cady to nab the dog, a pit bull, with police assistance on Tuesday and keep it impounded until its owner, William Cowell, complies with a request to build a chain-link kennel to contain it at all times.
This is the third time selectmen have discussed the topic. They met with Cowell two weeks ago and asked him to put up the chain-link kennel. Cowell agreed, and then did not build the agreed-upon fence. Cowell did construct a fence that was deemed by those at the meeting as "inadequate." Municipal administrator Arthur Sanborn described it as "agricultural fencing." Cowell did not attend Monday's meeting.
Sanborn agreed to draft a letter restating the request for the dog's owner, William Cowell, to build a chain-link fence. Selectman Chairman David Dill asked Sanborn to "explain the dog is going to be impounded now. (Cowell has) one week to comply with the agreement. If (he doesn't) comply, we're going to put the dog down."
Two of the children who were bitten by the dog, Felicia Wright, 8, and Christian Bigelow, 10, attended the meeting with their mothers. They said the dog bit them as they played in the common yard of the apartment building on Main Street, where Cowell also lives with his dog. Wright said she has two large red marks on her left wrist from the original injury, which she sustained in August. The dog bit both of Bigelow's legs on July 7. The injuries were treated at the hospital. The children are so frightened of the dog that they refuse to return to the apartment building.
Christian Bigelow's mother, Donna, said at the end of the meeting she was not satisfied with the selectmen's decision.
"I don't know what it is going to take," she said. "He's bitten four people. I want that dog put down."
This order did not satisfy Donna Bigelow, mother of one of the four victims.
"I want the dog put down. I think you gave him plenty of chances," Bigelow said during the selectmen's meeting Monday evening.
Selectmen ordered animal control officer Cindy Cady to nab the dog, a pit bull, with police assistance on Tuesday and keep it impounded until its owner, William Cowell, complies with a request to build a chain-link kennel to contain it at all times.
This is the third time selectmen have discussed the topic. They met with Cowell two weeks ago and asked him to put up the chain-link kennel. Cowell agreed, and then did not build the agreed-upon fence. Cowell did construct a fence that was deemed by those at the meeting as "inadequate." Municipal administrator Arthur Sanborn described it as "agricultural fencing." Cowell did not attend Monday's meeting.
Sanborn agreed to draft a letter restating the request for the dog's owner, William Cowell, to build a chain-link fence. Selectman Chairman David Dill asked Sanborn to "explain the dog is going to be impounded now. (Cowell has) one week to comply with the agreement. If (he doesn't) comply, we're going to put the dog down."
Two of the children who were bitten by the dog, Felicia Wright, 8, and Christian Bigelow, 10, attended the meeting with their mothers. They said the dog bit them as they played in the common yard of the apartment building on Main Street, where Cowell also lives with his dog. Wright said she has two large red marks on her left wrist from the original injury, which she sustained in August. The dog bit both of Bigelow's legs on July 7. The injuries were treated at the hospital. The children are so frightened of the dog that they refuse to return to the apartment building.
Christian Bigelow's mother, Donna, said at the end of the meeting she was not satisfied with the selectmen's decision.
"I don't know what it is going to take," she said. "He's bitten four people. I want that dog put down."