Max's Law

[Albea]

This is Max's story: seven months ago he was sleeping when his 12 year-old boy, rushing to go to school, went down to give him a hug. As any dog would, Max was startled and bit the boy in the face. The Animal Control Officer, without much knowledge of the circumstances or dog behavior, immediately took the dog away and condemned him to die. The family, totaly devoted to Max, faught this decision. They took him, at their own expense, to be evaluated at Tufts Veterinary School where is was determined that there wasn't anything wrong with the pup, he was not aggresive by nature.
In spite of this, the town kept Max behind bars. The latest decision was left to the Agriculture Department. In the meantime, the family was paying for boarding Max at a pound nearer to their home so they could go visit him. Not only Attorney General Blumenthal but Governor Rowland too interceded in the case. This made news all over the State, with people being very very mad at the ACO and the town.
However, according to the Hartford Courant in today's edition (June 6), at the hearing yesterday, when it seemed Max could go home, there was a snag in the negotiations. Although the family agreed to the obedience training and medication required, they were not willing to promise not to sue the town. There is another hearing in two weeks.
Now, if Max was not aggresive or neurotic before, how is he going to get over seven months of being in a cage? I do hope that the love of this very devoted family will help him overcome the experience.
I've been following this story from the beginning and it has made me as mad as most of the population of Connecticut.
There's another lesson to be learned from this: teach the children that dogs can react out of fear when they feel threatened by unexpected moves.
It's a good thing that the legislature established the 60 days deadline for a decision regarding dogs held by the state so other dogs and their families will not have to suffer from a similar traumatic experience, but nothing is going to replace the time, in his formative period of life, that poor Max spent alone in a pound.