By Theresa Knapp 

At a dog dangerousness hearing on Sept. 9, the Hopedale Select Board deemed two dogs to be “dangerous” and ordered them to be euthanized related to a dog bite on  June 24. 

The self-identified owner, Melinda Kronenberg-Cummings, has appealed. 

The dogs in question, Luna and Trooper, live on West Street and were unlicensed and unvaccinated at the time of the June attack. They were deemed dangerous by the town’s Dog Hearing Officer at a hearing in August. 

The purpose of the September Select Board public hearing was to determine “what order(s), if any, shall be imposed.” 

In the police report related to the incident, the dogs were described as “very large…one looked like a shepherd mix [Luna] and the other like a pitt bull mix [Trooper].” The dogs escaped from their home and were running loose in the neighborhood before attacking a woman and her puppy in their front yard on Jones Road. 

According to the report, “The woman identified as Kathryn Larson…said she was out walking her small dog and the two loose dogs approached here and tried to attack her dog. She lifted it up to avoid the dog getting bit and the two dogs began to jump up on her and scratch and possibly bite her. Kathryn had a puncture mark on the left cheek which drew blood and multiple scratches on her left arm. She also had tears in her t-shirt.” 

Larson was at the public hearing and described the incident to the board, noting again that she was attacked in her own front yard. “My biggest fear is, I have an 11-year-old-daughter and she is the one that’s responsible to take the dog out, but she had a broken leg and that’s why she wasn’t out there…If that was her, it would have been a totally different situation and that’s what scares me. I want to feel safe letting her take the dog for a walk.” 

Residents Cheryl and Paul Stewardson shared Larson’s concerns, agreed with the dog hearing officer’s ruling, and described the encounter they had with the same dogs in 2021, when the dogs attacked and were found to be “dangerous.” 

“The two dogs killed our dog and bit our adult daughter. It appears this time they went after a dog again and bit the adult in the face. So if you have a kid [next time], how horrible is that going to be?,” said Cheryl Stewardson, adding their daughter had to go through the rabies protocol and they had to sue Kronenberg-Cummings and her then-partner, Dennis Dmytryck, to be reimbursed for expenses. “[The dogs] have proven twice that they are dangerous to the residents of Hopedale, and I take that very seriously.” 

At the beginning of the hearing, there was a lengthy discussion as to who was the “owner” of the dogs. While they have been living with Kronenberg-Cummings and her former (as of the day before the attack) partner Dmytryck, it is Dmytryck who is listed as the owner on the dogs’ paperwork. However, Kronenberg-Cummings has self-identified as the owner to authorities. 

Animal Control Officer Kevin Sullivan said, “She was a second party to everything for both incidents [2024 and 2021]…At the actual hearings, they were together,” noting that Kronenberg-Cummings has clear control and custody over the dogs. 

Kronenberg-Cummings said Dmytryck had left the dogs with her and that she wanted the dogs to remain with her. 

Acting Board Chair Glenda Hazard empathized with Kronenberg-Cummings but said, “Regardless of who owns them, they are either dangerous or not dangerous.” 

Hazard expressed hesitation to destroy both dogs if they were not both responsible, but ACO Sullivan explained both dogs were involved in the 2021 attack that resulted in the death of a dog, and both dogs were jumping on the victim in the most recent attack. 

Kronenberg-Cummings and her friend, Joel Lasorsa, said the problem was the dogs usually stay in the yard but had gotten out of the house because someone left the front door ajar, stressing they had not bitten anyone in three years. 

Selectperson Scott Savage made clear the issue was if the dogs are dangerous. 

“If we’re sitting here again in three years, and this time a kid was bit or mauled or killed, would you sit here saying ‘Well, its been three years since the last time’? It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since the last time, there’s been multiple occasions. If these dogs get out again, are they a danger? However they got out, whatever the conditions are, I don’t feel like that’s relevant to the decision that I’m looking at right now. It’s in the event that if they get out, what do you think is going to happen and that’s what I believe this board has a responsibility to make a decision based off of.” 

Selectperson Bernie Stock said, “We’re a board that’s responsible for public safety in our community…Given the information that’s in front of us, I would like to see that happen tonight.” 

The board voted two in favor (Stock, Savage) and one opposed (Hazard) to euthanize the dogs. 

Kronenberg-Cummings has filed an appeal.