The board, at its July 25 meeting, considered a letter from Zachary Barkan complaining about an interaction he had with dog warden Marie Leotta on the morning of the Mad Marathon, July 10. The board also reviewed Leotta’s response to Barkan’s letter.
The board also reviewed a letter from Leotta requesting that the town expand the scope of her job responsibility to include fining owners who repeatedly let their dogs roam. She also asked the select board to consider a ruling banning dogs from the Waitsfield Farmers’ Market (or any other public gathering) if they do not have rabies tags and town dog licenses.
“My position should have the ability to fine these people thereby encouraging them to abide by the town laws and get the required town tags. Furthermore, it is apparent that the only people complaining about me are the ones breaking the law,” Leotta wrote.
Leotta also reviewed for the board the status of ongoing complaints she has received from the Curly and Schulman families about each others’ dogs. She said that one family was complaining about dogs barking and the other was complaining about dogs roaming.
Leotta said she spent timing watching and listening in the area and found that one family’s dogs barked when someone or something approaches them – including the other family’s dogs which frequently slip their fence or electric collars and roam at large.
By statute, the town has the authority to hold an official quasi-judicial hearing on dog complaints, but the select board has opted to have a meeting with the dog owners and others to hear firsthand about the complaints.
“From what we’ve been given, it’s not clear who is to blame in this situation. I think we need to hear this for ourselves,” said select board chair Kate Williams.
“If you invite the two dog owners in, it’s going to be a ‘he said, she said,’ situation,” board member Sal Spinosa said.
“I agree it’s going to be ‘he said, she said’ and we’re going to have to figure out who said what,” board member Paul Hartshorn added.
The town has also been working on a new dog ordinance and expects to preview it at or before that meeting as well.
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