PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Animal Control Commission voted to euthanize two Dartmouth Street dogs after a man's encounter with them required surgery.

By a majority vote, the panel decided that two pit bulls owned by Matthew Jacobs are dangerous and should be put down to prevent further incidents.  

Not much is known about the dogs, as the owner did not attend the meeting, and to the commission's knowledge they do not have a record. The decision was based on the severity of the allegations.

Joseph Czop of Brighton Avenue alleged that the dogs attacked him and his coonhound Lucy after getting away from their owner and cost him thousands of dollars in medical bills. He came to the commission for a solution so that another person does not have the same or a worse encounter with the dogs.

"What happened to me shouldn't happen to anybody else in my neighborhood," he said.

Czop said he was walking Lucy in June when Jacobs' dogs charged at them and got hold of Lucy before he could pick her up.

"One of them had her by the ear and was trying to rip her head off. The other had her by her hind and was trying to pull her in the other direction and I tried to push the one on the head off and I got these," he said, holding up his hand.

"You can hardly see them anymore but believe me they still hurt. Latched onto me there and then bites all the way up this arm and swelling from the other one. Thank god there was a jogger that stopped to help me and a couple other people that were stopped at the light that got them off of me."

Czop said the dogs' owner approached, asked if he was OK, and said they got away from him. The dogs were attached to leashes.

As far as he could tell from the owner's conversation with the police, the dogs were not licensed and didn't have shots.

Lucy was brought to the vet and Czop went to the emergency room where he had some stitches and a rabies vaccination. He said an orthopedic surgeon later had to reopen the wounds to clean them and that one was down to the bone.

"I have really good insurance but I can tell you if I had no insurance, I would be bankrupt right now," Czop said, displaying around $37,000 in medical bills and reporting having to pay around $4,000 out of pocket.

Lucy sustained multiple puncture marks from the incident and was on antibiotics, he said.

He was surprised to learn that the dogs were returned to the owner immediately and expressed concern for other neighbors in the area.

There have been unsuccessful efforts to get in touch with Jacobs.

"She won't leave the yard anymore ever since this happened," Czop said about Lucy. "And frankly, I'm walking around the neighborhood when I can get her out with a can of bear spray in my pocket because the next person's dog that comes up to me unleashed isn't going to get within 25 feet of me."

Councilor at Large Peter White and Commissioner Emily Chasse did not vote in favor of euthanizing the dogs and Chair Renee Dodds was absent.

Chasse felt the board needed more information on the dogs before making that motion.

The commission also deemed two dogs that reside on Tamarack Road and are owned by Jacquelyn Chatman-Mullen as nuisance dogs who must be tethered when outdoors.

Paul Yarmey of Tamarack Road said the two pit bulls have come after him and his horse a number of times since the springtime. Reportedly, other neighbors have had similar experiences.

"I'm hoping something can be done somehow, somewhere to restrain these dogs that are frequently out running around," he said.

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