WESTFIELD – The owner of nine dogs who died recently, apparently from heat stress, has applied for a residential kennel license and a public hearing has been scheduled to consider the application.
The death of nine Australian shepherd dogs on July 5 came to light about a week later when an anonymous caller reported to a local television station that the owner, Brenda Coggin of Coggin Creek Stables, had been seen burying the dogs.
Coggin later said that she had left the dogs in their air conditioned kennel but later found the air conditioner was no longer working and all nine dogs were dead.
MSPCA investigators found, Westfield Animal Control Officer Kenneth Frazer said, that the air conditioner would work for only a few minutes before the compressor overloaded and it shut down.
The dogs were buried immediately and Frazer said, after the deaths were discovered, that it was too late to exhume the dogs to determine their cause of death.
Article II, Section 4-26 of the city’s Code of Ordinances says “No person shall keep … more than three dogs over the age of three months without complying with the requirements of the Westfield Zoning Ordinance, and obtaining a kennel license.”
Coggin’s application states “I would like to be able to have my own dog – registered AKC Australian Shepherds, for showing and breeding. I generally average 2 litters of pups a year.”
Coggin’s application for a special permit for a residential kennel license was submitted to the city’s Planning Board.
A hearing has been scheduled on Tuesday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. at City Hall in the City Council chambers.
