SOUTHWICK – ‘Theo,” a German shepherd owned by Southwick residents Sean and Jennifer Langan, was deemed a nuisance by the Southwick Select Board this week.
Theo and another Langan family dog, Marley, were the subjects of a dog hearing last month after several incidents involving neighbor Erika Emmelmann’s Labrador mix named Trixie and her dog walker.
The board officially found Theo to be a nuisance but cleared Marley of any complaints during its Feb. 22 meeting.
Select Board Chair Douglas Moglin, who has said several times that dog hearings are one of the most difficult tasks of the board, said “we don’t have to find a dog to be dangerous” to enforce restrictions. Instead, Theo was deemed a nuisance.
“In this case, that’s probably the best,” Moglin said, having noted during the hearing that Theo seemed to dislike Trixie for some reason.
A legal document was written by town counsel and states that Theo must be leashed at all times when outside unless contained in a fenced area and must have training. The Langans indicated during the hearing that they planned to install a fence when the weather was better.
A Nov. 17, 2020 incident was the cause for the hearing and was the first time Emmelmann filed a report, despite previous run-ins with Theo. She said she did not report the other incidents because she is friends with the Langans.
“I love the Langans,” she said during the hearing Jan. 25. “This isn’t a hearing to put down Theo, it’s to get them to do something.”
