A Watertown man faces criminal charges after he allegedly stabbed a dog that was attacking his dog and would not release it.
On Feb. 13, just before 6:30 p.m., police received a report of a fight between two dogs at Filippello Park. When they arrived the two owners, one who had a dog about 20-25 pounds in size, and the other had two dogs that were 40-50 pounds each.
The men had been walking along a path in the park when the altercation happened, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor.
“At some point one of the bigger dogs broke free from the leash and attacked the smaller dog,” O’Connor said. “Both the owners were trying to separate the dogs. The smaller dog was squealing and was being bit in the head and neck. They were unable to separate them.”
While trying to separate the dogs, the owner of the smaller dog was bit in the hand.
“The guy with the smaller dog said he was in fear his dog was going to get killed,” O’Connor said. “He said ‘Get your dog off or I’m going to stab him.’ Then he took out a utility knife and stabbed the larger dog three times, and they separated.”
Police spoke to the owner of the larger dog.
“He told officers the guy said, ‘I’m going to kill your dog if you don’t get him off,’ and then his dog was stabbed,” O’Connor said.
The owner took the dog that had been stabbed to Angel Memorial Hospital in Waltham. Paramedics came and treated the man whose hand had been bit.
Watertown Police requested a summons from Waltham District Court for the owner of the smaller dog, a 34-year-old Watertown man on a charge of cruelty to an animal.
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Why in the world would defending one’s dog from VIOLENT ATTACK by another dog be considered a crime? Any dog which violently attacks another dog DESERVES whatever is necessary to stop that attack, period, end of story. Where is the concern for the small dog which was the VICTIM of this attack? The owner of the large dog (the one which attacked) should instead be charged with a crime!!!
You people really think it’s okay to stab a dog? He could have kicked or something but to stab a dog is not the right approach ever.
Sounds as if the stabber had some degree of justification in defending his much smaller pet. Strange he was charged. No leash law violation on owner of larger dog? Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
So, the dog owner with two 50, pound dogs cannot control his dogs and one attacks a small dog and its owner. The dog, and its owner , are bitten , he defends himself and he is facing charges?? Something is wrong here!
How does the owner of the small dog get blamed for animal cruelty when his dog was attacked, bitten on the neck and had his own hand bitten while trying to separate the dogs? It was a utility knife he had on him which anyone might have used for protection. His dog’s life was at risk.
It is INSANE to charge the owner of the dog being attacked. Was he supposed to let his dog be killed?
Unbelievable.
I rescued 751 dogs, and wouldn’t have hesitated to stab the attacker.
The owner of the attacker should be charged with animal cruelty, if anyone is going to be charged.
I think my husband had a run in with that same guy. He didn’t understand how dogs play. My dog has the dog’s collar and after they were separate he punches our dog. If it is the same guy he has issues stabbing a dog. Same park in early February and I suspect he was carrying the utility knife hoping to stab our dog if he saw him again.
Either there is information missing from this report or there has been a tremendous misuse of legal authority.
Yes to both. I’m curious about the breed of the aggressive dog that attacked the smaller dog (like it shouldn’t come as a surprise). And yes, there’s something seriously wrong here when the victim is cited and the aggressor walks free.
Welcome to Massachusetts where it has become illegal to defend yourself.
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Either there are some massive details missing from the story here , or the Watertown police are doing something dirty to the owner of the small dog (either on their own or at the request of the owner of the larger dogs.)
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter266/Section112
To meet “animal cruelty” they would have to show that he willfully and maliciously attacked the larger dogs. In the case of self defense, there is no way to satisfy malice, so these charges should be dropped immediately or be thrown out by the court.
If the events truly happened as described in the article , the Watertown PD should be ashamed of how they are treating the citizen who was injured trying to protect his pet from attack.
What a terrible day for the small-dog owner. On top of all the rest, dog bites to the hand are dangerous. Deep bites to the hand can put the bitten person in the hospital with sepsis.
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This is absolute insanity. What about the cruelty that was inflicted on the smaller dog?
What kind of law defends such violence?