Woman In Ellington, CT Needs Legal Help Regarding her Dogs and Possible Quarantine and Bad Neighbors

I cannot do this for everyone, but this woman asked me to help.  I have her phone, but I will not give that out.  If you're in or near Ellington, CT and can help, here is her email address:

MEFCH@aol.com 

Thank you for giving me the time to share my problem.

On Oct. 20, 2012 we had a birthday party for my 4 year old grandson. I live in a condo in Ellington, CT. There are about 53 condos here. Around 3:00 we tied out my 5 pound, 11 year old Yorkie and my son's 6 year old Chow/Husky on leashes attached to my deck. There were 2 boys running around with masks and swords who kept stopping to torment the 2 dogs. I yelled at them to keep away from the dogs so they ran off. Someone was on the deck all afternoon with the dogs. The 2 boys came over to the dogs aiming there swords at the tied up dogs. I told them again to get away from the dogs. My son also saw the boys and told them not to go near the dogs.

At 6 p.m. (3 hours after the boys harassing the dogs) my bell rang and a female put her foot in my doorway and yelled at my son, "your dog bit my son." My son got angry and told her to get her foot out of the door and my daughter called her a liar. The argument got very loud so I came from the deck and went to the door. When I talked to the female I asked her let me see her son's arm. She told me he was too upset and crying. I questioned where she was all day because the 2 ten year olds were not supervised at all. She said her "son had the right to play in the yard." I corrected her and told her it was not HER yard, it was a common area for the condo. Then her son came out and she pulled up his sleeve on his left arm. She looked up and down his arm and couldn't point to the 'bite mark'. I told her I didn't see anything and she said, "well, it was there." Then she called the police. A Constable came out and stated, "I am NOT here for the dog bite, I am here for the argument that is going on." The woman demanded to see my son's dogs rabbi records. I handed the records to the cop who handed them to the woman. As she was looking at them he said to the boy, "let me see the bite." She picked up her son's sleeve and this time pointed to his wrist. The cop said, "I don't see anything." Then he asked the boy, "where were the dogs?" The boy walked over to my back deck and pointed to it. Then the cop asked, "were the dogs leashed?" The boy told him, "yes". The cop said, "so they were on their area and leashed, no crime here." He then asked for my name and date of birth and wanted to talk to my son. We went in the house and as the cop pet my Yorkie I asked if he wanted to see the other dog and he said, "no, I don't need to see it." He talked to my son about trying to keep calm during a bad situation then left.

Monday morning I called the Ellington police to ask for a copy of the police report. I was switched over to the Tolland headquarters where an officer told me "there was no police report." I asked why and he said, "no bite was seen, no report needs to be made." Then he also explained "that they do not make out police reports for every call they go on." I asked him, "what proof do I have that my dog did nothing to that boy?" He said, "you have the Constable's word." Then he gave me CC21 as the Ellington Trooper's badge number.

Monday night I came home to find a notice on my door from a dog warden which stated "investigating a dog bite." The next day I called Barbara Murdoch (            860-870-3155 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            860-870-3155      end_of_the_skype_highlighting      ) on Tuesday, Oct. 24. I asked her what was going on since there was no bite or police report. She told me when a police officer answers a call for a dog bite (which he stated he was not doing that night) she had to follow up on it.

She told me "it's just protocol". Then she told me "since the incident happened on Sat. and today was Tues. she was not going over to look at the boy because there would be no mark on him after all this time." I told her that the cop said he saw nothing, and she said, "Well, he told me he saw a small scratch." I said, "that's a lie, he told all of us, including the Mother of the boy, that he saw nothing." So she told me she was going to call the boy's Mother. NOT once was I asked which dog was accused.

She called me at my job on Wed. and told me that "the boy's Mother said it was a half inch scratch." I argued with her and also pointed out that no police record was done or was the boy taken to a doctor. She said, "well, let's pretend that the dog is quarantined." I asked her what that meant so she told me that "the dog can't leave the premises, he has to be leashed when he is outside and can't go near any other dogs or kids." I told her that there were dogs and kids all over the complex so she said, "well, try and find a spot that doesn't have any."
Wednesday night I came home to another notice on my door that stated the dog was not licensed. My son just moved in (temporarily) a week before so I took his dog's vet records to the town of Ellington and got him licensed. The female at the town told me that you have a month after moving to get the dog licensed.

On Thursday morning I called Barbara Murdoch and left her a message not to contact me at work anymore. I told her we were getting an Atty. to handle this. At 11:15 a.m. she called me again at work. I politely told her I could not talk to her and she said, "fine, I will call the state."

Not knowing what that meant, I called the state and spoke to Animal Control Officer, Denise Alix at             860-713-2500 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            860-713-2500      end_of_the_skype_highlighting      . I told her that there was no police report, no doctor visit, no mark on the boy, we didn't even know which dog was being accused. So why were we being told to quarantine the dog? She said she had no idea and told me she would call Ms. Murdoch to find out what was going on and call me back. I never received a call back from Denise Alix.

I then went on the state of CT web site and found out that the law states,

BITING DOGS

Quarantine

The law requires an ACO to quarantine a dog that has bitten someone off its owner's property. The dog must be quarantined for 14 days in a public pound, veterinary hospital, or place approved by the DOAg commissioner. The purpose of the quarantine is to assure the animal does not have rabies and to examine the dog's demeanor. The owner must pay all fees associated with quarantining the animal. The ACO may quarantine the dog on the premises if it has bitten someone on its owner's property. The ACO must give the person the dog bit and the commissioner notice of the quarantine within 24 hours. The commissioner or his designee must examine the dog on the 14th day of the quarantine to determine whether it should continue (CGS § 22-358 (c)).

Disposition

An ACO or the commissioner may make any order concerning the restraint or disposal of the biting animal as he deems necessary. Notice of the order must be given to the person bitten by the dog within 24 hours. Anyone aggrieved by an order made by an ACO may request a hearing before the commissioner within 14 days of its issuance. The commissioner after the hearing may affirm, modify, or revoke the order.

ACOs can seize dogs when their owners do not comply with the quarantine or restraining order. The owner may also be fined up to $250, imprisoned for up to 30 days, or both (CGS § 22-358 (c)).

Liability

A dog's owner or keeper is liable for any damage caused by his dog to a person's body or property, unless the damage was sustained while the person was committing a trespass or other tort, or teasing, abusing, or tormenting the dog. The law presumes that anyone under the age of seven was not committing a trespass or teasing the dog unless the defendant can prove otherwise (CGS § 22-357). If damage has been caused by two or more dogs at the same time, their owners or keepers are jointly and severally liable for the entire damage (CGS § 22-356).

Reporting and Killing

The victim of a dog bite must report the attack to a state, town, or regional ACO responsible for the town where the attack occurred. The ACO must immediately investigate the attack. Anyone who is bitten by a dog or who shows visible evidence of having been attacked may kill the dog during the attack if it happens off the animal owner's or keeper's premises. The law exempts anyone killing a biting dog in accordance with this law from criminal or civil liability (CGS § 22-358).

If Ms. Murdoch had not told me that she was going to report to the State, I honestly never would have known what MY rights were in this matter. On Friday morning Ms. Murdoch called me again at work. Again, I told her I could not talk to her then said good-by as she started shouting at me. Twenty minutes latter Trooper Given called and introduced himself. He asked me who "Loki" belonged too and I told him my son. He then told me that "Barbara Murdoch had no business speaking to me at all, nor did he, that they needed to talk to my son about his dog." He told me that Ms. Murdoch had been calling my son all week but couldn't reach him." I told him "that was not true, that she has been talking to me all week no one else." I then asked him "what was my son's phone number if she was calling him?" He laughed and said, "well, that is why I am calling you, to ask for his number." I told him that all of this was getting upsetting and that we were going to hire an Atty. He said, "WELL, THAT IS NOT NECESSARY, THE MOTHER OF THE BOY IS NOT PURSUING THIS." I told him, "I know that, she is not who we will be going after." Then he talked to me for 48 min. He repeated himself a lot and then he said something that really upset me. He said, "I suggest you PLAY nice with the dog warden to make this go away because she has the authority to euthanize the dog." I got very angry and asked "why would you euthanize a dog where there is not proof of even a scratch or bite to the boy?" He just repeated that "we should just play nice so this will all go away."

Yesterday, someone came to my door and rang the bell, I wasn't dressed so I didn't answer. Pounding started with yelling "this is the police, open the door." After 10 min. of trying to break my door, he leaves. My daughter comes, I pack my bags and flee my home (still not knowing what the hell I did). I get home today and there is a message from the dog warden saying they left the Quarantine Order. That is how they leave a Quarantine order....pounding and yelling to open the door???? She also said on the message that my son has to bring his dog to HER on Nov. 2 or he will be arrested. This is the woman who told both my son and me that she had the right to order his dog to be euthanized!!

I had to take 3 Zanex to calm down after the pounding and yelling at my door. This situation has gotten way out of control and the police are not defusing the problem, they are causing the problem to grow.

FACTS.....NO ONE even identified that it was my son's dog involved that day. There were 2 dogs tied out. The cop never asked to see the dogs, neither did the boy's Mom. The cop and the Mom never even asked the boy which dog it was. The crime was so bad, no one cared which dog did it???

They have NO police report, NO doctor exam and possibly not even the right dog!!! Yet they have made my whole family, me and my son's dog's life a living hell for 8 days now....why??? Because they can? This is so wrong and disgusting.

IF one of the dog's bit a child, the quarantine should have been handed to us within 24 hrs. and we would have obeyed.

They need to:

SHOW us the proof of which dog they are accusing,

SHOW us the proof of what the dog did,

SHOW us the proof that you will NOT euthanize an innocent dog!

My son has been in hiding with his dog since Tues. when the dog warden told me she had the right to euthanize the dog.

The police banged on my door and yelled out "this is the police...open the door" as if I was a criminal. They got my neighbors to see and hear them .....to embarrass me.

They have called me several times where I work.

Where are my legal rights from harassment, intimation and threats to kill an innocent dog??? Because of a dog warden who did not do her job correctly and a police officer who did not take a report of a dog bite, if he truly saw a bite mark on a child!!

Mon. 12:00 p.m. - While the state is going through "a Historic storm for CT"

The Dog Warden appears at my door as my youngest son and his friend are leaving...

"Hi Shaun....I am **** the dog warden" My son's friend says - "I'm not Shaun"

Dog Warden goes over to my son......

"Hi Shaun....I am **** the dog warden" my son says, "I'm not Shaun" She says, "where is he?"

My son says, "He left"...I yelled out the window to my son...."No more talking."

He walked away as she gave me dirty looks... then got in her dog warden van and drove away.
She left a NICE phone message on Sat. (after the cop tried to break down my door) for him to bring his dog in on Nov. 2 to see if his dog has any signs of rabies. She stated "if he did not bring the dog on Fri. she would be back at the house on Sat. to hand him a summons for not complying with an order and interfering with a police investigation."

#1 - Complying with an order that the owner of the dog has not received?

#2 - What police investigation?

#3 - She comes back TODAY when she stated she would be back on Nov. 3?

12:45 p.m. - My son, Ryan entered the Ellington Police to ask them why the dog warden was continuing to come and harass us. He was told by Officer Decker that he and Officer Given would be coming to my home on Wed. to arrest Shaun (the owner of the dog). He told my son Ryan that even if he has an Atty. they will arrest him.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME....none of us did anything wrong, not even the dog. There is no police report, no doctor report, no quarantine was served until 7 days after the 'incident'. Officer Decker was recorded saying, "all your brother has to do is bring in the rabies certificate and sign the quarantine and this all goes away. If he doesn't, I'm not bull shitting you, he will be arrested on Wed."

I am begging for help, please, we have not broken any laws but the dog warden and the Ellington police have.

Mary Ellen Havanec