Select Board votes 4-0 to declare three dogs a nuisance

Select Board · Meeting of May 26, 2026

Wareham Select Board declares three dogs a nuisance, orders fencing and insurance fixes within 30 days. Sitting as hearing authority under state law, the board voted 4-0 to adopt Animal Control Officer Kelly Jerebeck's six-point plan for dogs owned by Denise Gottwald, requiring a roofed, buried-fence enclosure, $100,000 in liability insurance, permanent identification and spay/neuter. Member Joseph M.

Still first moved to deem the dogs "dangerous," but Town Counsel Richard Bowen warned the hearing had only been noticed as a nuisance matter, comparing it to "being summoned into court for a parking violation" and getting tried for something bigger. Jerebeck testified the dogs, including one named Willow and two puppies, had repeatedly escaped onto Cranberry Highway, and neighbor Lynn Beloso said one dog trapped her in her car. Chair Sarah Corbitt, Clerk Judith Whiteside and member Marcus S.

Gomes joined the unanimous vote; Jared S. Chadwick was absent.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of May 26, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.