ADAMS, Mass. — Two dogs have been declared "nuisances" and their owners ordered to constrain them.

 

Powers Street neighbors say Hank and Dweezil have been running through their yards, scaring children and digging up gardens.

 

Their owners, Robert and Robin Mazzantini, objected that the dogs were friendly but difficult to keep contained. Hank, who's 2, has chewed through his cable runs but Dweezil, 10 or 11, is slow, they said.

 

"I haven't heard about the dogs attacking anybody," said Robert Mazzantini. "They don't have a mean bone in their body."

 

Animal Control Office Kim Witek said the problems date to a single incident in 2020; but beginning in 2023, the incidents have escalated. The Mazzantinis have racked up $1,100 in fines.

 

"All the neighbors are asking is that he keep the dogs in his yard," she said.

 

After hearing testimony at a public hearing on Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to require the owners to provide a plan for fencing the animals within 30 days and to keep them on leash at all times until the fencing is complete.

 

Selectman Joseph Nowak motioned to waive the outstanding fees owed, $750, if the Mazzantinis complied with the orders, citing their difficulty in affording a fence. This passed 2-1 with Chair Christine Hoyt voting no, saying the citations were more than a year old and they had not been cited for an additional 12 violations in the past year.

 

The board was provided with a file of incident reports, images, emails and a dozen videos related to the dogs trespassing.

 

Jeffrey Blake of KP Law, the town's legal counsel, participated via Zoom; Chair John Duval recused himself from any discussion as he is related to someone cited in the complaints.

 

Robert Mazzantini put the complaints down to "bad blood" on the street but his neighbors refuted that, saying the dogs have become more problematic and destructive. 

 

"For them to come in here and say, it's all about a feud or a difference, it is not," said Lisa Odvar. "It is about a couple of dogs that are not being controlled. ... I have a dog. We all keep our dogs in our own yard, and that is our responsibility."

 

Odvar said Hank, a pit bull, had come into the yard and growled at her children, 13 and 16, who fled into the house. 

 

Jason Holmes said the dogs had trashed his yard, pulling out landscape fabric and plants and causing about $500 in damage. 

 

"There was never bad blood until this happened. You know, we tried to, 'keep your dogs in your yard, get your dog out of my yard,' and it just keeps going," he said. "And all you hear from all of the other side of bushes is, 'I'm working on it. I'm working on it.'"

 

Mazzantini asked Selectwoman Ann Bartlett, who also lives on Powers Street, if the dogs had bothered her. She said no, but that didn't matter.

 

"In the town of Adams, it says that you need to have your control of your dog, so when you let it out the door, he should be in some kind of a run or gated area where he can run where, other than that, he goes out into somebody else's," Bartlett said.

 

Nowak told them "if you claim you love your dogs, like the other two families that came up that are dog people, they both say they don't want any harm to your dogs or anything, I think that shows that they're reaching out to you. So I think you should reach out to them."

 

Witek said she would be willing to be a resource to the Mazzantinis for getting at least part of their yard fenced in and would keep the board updated.