Court no-show costs family its dog
<p style="text-indent: 0in">Stoughton selectmen are not putting up with being blown off.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">Joseph and Teresa Teixeira were scheduled for animal complaint hearings with selectmen twice recently regarding their dog Penney, which bit another resident in October.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">The Teixeiras were no-shows for both hearings and now their lack of attendance is going to cost them Penney, a Dalmatian.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">On Tuesday, selectmen unanimously voted to ban the dog from the town.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">"If they don't want to act, then we have to act," said Selectman Joseph Mokrisky.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">"I'm very, very angry with the disregard for the hearing and the seriousness of the hearing," said Selectman John Kowalczyk.
Selectmen said the family received two notices in hand informing them of the hearings.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">"I find that to be an insult," said board member Antonio Sousa.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">Selectmen Chairman Richard Levine said the board was in agreement prior to the meeting that it would likely only demand the family control the animal and obey the leash law. He said the board was not planning to ban the dog.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">But selectmen said their disregard for the hearings left them with no choice.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">"It's unfair that the dog has to suffer," Levine said.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">The problems with Penney began prior to the October incident. Previously, Penney and Tigre, a husky mix, lived at the Teixeira's home on Washington Street. Tigre is no longer housed at the residence.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">Stoughton Animal Control Officer Stacy Nee stated in a letter sent to Levine dated Nov. 6 that many of the problems stemmed from Tigre, but there have been many leash law violations with Penney, in addition to the biting incident.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">In voting to ban Penney, selectmen put Nee in charge of removing the animal. Penney will be taken to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has a facility in Brockton.
<p style="text-indent: 0in">Stoughton Journal