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Selectmen deal with dog attack issue

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW The Board of Selectmen hosted a hearing during their May 6 meeting between the families of Laura Joubert and Richard Bansavich concerning a complaint against the Bansavichs' dog, Ralph.

Joubert wrote a letter to the Board of Selectmen describing an incident that occurred on March 10 on Wood Avenue, where the Bansavich family and her mother reside. "My daughter came running over to me upset telling me [my son] was getting attacked by a dog," she wrote. "I went running over ... to find my son crying, scared, and bleeding from his face and head."

She described the rest of the incident in detail, both in her letter and to the Board of Selectmen.

Officer Joe Barone of the East Longmeadow Police Department filed the report from Joubert on March 12.

The boy attacked is nine years old and has a five-year-old and a newborn as siblings. The neighborhood where the incident occurred often has up to one dozen young children playing and the Bansavich yard is not fenced, according to Joubert.

"I am in need of the town's help for some kind of solution to this problem," she concluded.

"I'm very concerned about this too," Bansavich told the selectmen. "I've offered to pay their medical bills. Ralph is a 70-pound dog [half Australian shepherd, half Siberian husky] and sometimes he plays a little rough. We are looking to install a kennel for him in the backyard." He added that his dog has no history of biting.

Diane Pellegrino, a neighbor of Bansavich, submitted a letter to the board, stating her two sons have never had a problem with the dog.

Selectman Joe Townshend said he was concerned with the safety of the children in the community because of this dog, adding that he recommended a high-fenced kennel, a high-fenced yard or the family would have to get rid of the dog.

Once both parties were heard, the selectmen brought forward Linda Johnson, Animal Control Officer and Jessica O'Brien, the assistant officer. O'Brien's report stated that Joubert's son was attacked while on the Bansavich property and listed the boy's wounds as follows: "puncture above right eye, left temple puncture, also bruise above left temple." She placed Ralph on a 10-day quarantine in response to the incident.

O'Brien reported there were no reports concerning this dog from the past.

Johnson said she felt the family could keep the dog if they placed a four- to five-foot tall fence around the Bansavichs' yard and enrolled the dog in an obedience program.

"They just need something to keep the dog contained," Johnson said, "no more ropes or chains."

Board of Selectman Chair Jim Driscoll moved that a fence be constructed and Ralph be enrolled in an obedience program within seven days [from the meeting date] or he would need to be removed from the property, and the rest of the board approved.

Selectman Jack Villamaino asked Johnson to continue to monitor the situation.

Johnson stated that if the dog gets loose again, however, the family will lose the dog.