St. Albans City no longer plans to euthanize Moose, the dog that killed 30 small animals this year and whose case had drawn widespread attention.
Instead, the City Council voted Tuesday to relocate Moose outside of St. Albans, Ward 4 Alderperson Mike McCarthy said. The 4-year-old dog is now living in Highgate with a woman who helps rescue dogs, McCarthy said. She has 30 days to find Moose a new home, which likely will be either out of state or at a rescue organization in southern Vermont.
Courtney O’Brien, the rescue worker, wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday that she evaluated Moose after the council’s May 9 decision to euthanize him. She said she determined the dog could live safely around other people with the appropriate training and care.
“He has a prey drive which is common for almost ALL dog Breeds,” O’Brien said in a post including videos that showed Moose interacting with her and other dogs. “He has been determined to be a perfectly good dog with people of all ages.”
McCarthy added that St. Albans plans to notify Highgate officials that Moose was relocated there. The two communities share policing services.
According to a police report and residents’ testimony at the meeting last week, Moose on April 6 killed a prize rabbit and injured two others at a house on Walnut Street. Then, about a month later, the dog killed 26 chickens and three ducks on a nearby property.
Police said Moose has run unleashed multiple times on city roads in the past year. The dog was not licensed with the city, police said, and its owner could not produce the paperwork to prove that Moose had been vaccinated against rabies.
Moose also caused a puncture wound to the rabbit owner’s hand, according to testimony at last week’s meeting.
McCarthy said councilors are grateful O’Brien contacted the city about her willingness to take Moose in, and they’re confident she has the resources to care for him.
O’Brien did not respond to a message requesting comment late Tuesday. She wrote a letter to councilors on Monday urging them to overturn their decision to euthanize Moose.
McCarthy said that before hearing from O’Brien, council members felt they had no option other than to put Moose down. Councilors expressed concern last week that if the dog remained in the city, it could put other pets, and potentially people, in danger.
“It was clear that the owner of the dog just didn’t care, or was unable to care,” McCarthy said Tuesday. “And there just wasn’t any other real recourse that we had.”
McCarthy and other councilors received messages supporting and condemning their vote to euthanize Moose, he said. He also saw “very fervent” conversation about the decision on social media.
“The kind of messages I was getting about this were so extreme — on both sides of the issue,” McCarthy said. “We just want to make sure that people in our community are safe. That their animals are safe.”
