HALIFAX — On June 7, the Halifax Selectboard threw up their collective hands in frustration about the ongoing, unresolved issue of Shilo the dog.
Shilo was the subject of public meetings and public debate starting in mid-April after he bit a local man.
It was the second time this year that the dog had come to the town's attention. In January, he bit a DHL driver who delivered a package to the home. During the course of that investigation, Andy Rice, the animal control officer, and Sue Kelly, the public health nurse, learned that Shilo's owner, Kathy Bak, had permitted Shilo's rabies vaccine and license to lapse.
Both were subsequently brought current, but on April 13, Shilo bit Justin Hill while Hill was doing yard work on a neighbor's property. Both of the 2016 bites broke skin and required medical attention.
On April 19, the board acted on its understanding that it was within its authority to hold a hearing and order that the dog be euthanized.
Kelly advised the board that Bak had agreed to voluntarily put the dog down, however, and thus the board asked that Rice monitor the situation and ensure that the dog was indeed euthanized.
But Bak arrived at the May 3 Selectboard meeting with her lawyer, James Valente of Brattleboro, who argued that it was possible to protect the public and save the life of the dog by installing a physical fence, and that Bak was willing to enter into an agreement about the requirements for such an enclosure.
Valente further argued that this was the only way to resolve the issue because, in his view, the town's animal control ordinance stripped the town of any authority to order that a dog - even a “vicious” dog - be euthanized.
At a special selectboard meeting on May 9, the board discussed the matter with town counsel, Bob Fisher. Although Fisher indicated that the ordinance had probably been drafted by his office, he advised the board that because the legal issue wasn't cut and dried, the town should try to resolve the issue by way of agreement. The board agreed to that approach.
At the June 7 meeting, board member Mitch Green said that more than two weeks had passed since Fisher forwarded the draft agreement to Valente but reported that the town had not heard back.
With no resolution in sight, and expressing little confidence - based on the history of the case - that Bak would voluntarily resolve the issue, the board agreed to send formal notice of a public hearing, as permitted by state statute.
Reached by telephone, Valente declined to comment because, he said, “We are engaged in negotiations.”