'Dangerous' dog gets a death edict; Shrewsbury board says previous order violated.

• Author: Thompson, Elaine
• Position: News

Byline: Elaine Thompson

SHREWSBURY -- A dog that had been deemed dangerous in June was ordered to be killed after it bit a man and his dog last month.

The dog, Saydee, a 2-year-old boxer-type dog, is owned by Jeneen Demers of 31 Westmont Road. Ms. Demers, 40, is a special education teacher in Worcester.

In June, selectmen deemed Saydee to be dangerous, and Ms. Demers' then 9-month-old dog, Pesky, also a boxer-type, to be a nuisance, after several residents told selectmen they no longer walk their own dogs on their street because they fear Ms. Demers' two large dogs.

One neighbor said one of the dogs jumped against his bike and tried to bite him on his leg. Another said the dogs enter her yard and have pounced against a large window in an attempt to get at her three small dogs inside.

The board, at the recommendation of Leona Pease, the town animal control officer, imposed an 11-part order for Ms. Demers, including to have the dogs muzzled whenever they are outside her home.

Mark Silva and Andrea Arter, who live at 11 Liberty Street, told selectmen Tuesday night they were walking their dogs a few yards apart in Dean Park on Sept. 14 when they saw a woman, later identified as Ms. Demers, with her two dogs about 15 to 20 feet away.

Mr. Silva, recounting the experience, said all of a sudden Ms. Demers' dogs were at the end of their leashes "barking and growling and trying to get toward us.''

He said the dogs, which he and Ms. Arter said were not muzzled, pulled the woman to the ground.

He said the dog identified as Saydee came in front of him and bit his dog in the face. He said he went between the two dogs, and Ms. Demers dog then bit him on the shin.

Ms. Demers, he said, immediately hurried off to the parking lot with her dogs, got into her car and started the engine.

When he got to the car, the woman gave him a false name and said the car she was in was not hers, he said. She then rolled up the window to the car and tried to leave. Ms. Arter took the couple's two dogs and ran off to their home to get her cellphone to call the police. Mr. Silva said he stood behind Ms. Demers' car, telling her to stop.

He said Ms. Demers backed up the car until it touched his hands. She then accelerated the car forward and sped through the parking lot onto School Street, he said.

"These dogs were totally unprovoked. These animals are dangerous. She is not able to control these dogs. They should not be under her care,'' Mr...