Pit bull deemed to be vicious is euthanized

Official says animal that killed another dog in Burrillville was put down at request of owners

BURRILLVILLE – A 4year-old pit bull that killed a Harrisville couple’s Chihuahua on Easter morning was euthanized at the owner’s request Friday afternoon, 11 days after the dog was deemed dangerous at a vicious dog hearing.

The Chihuahua’s owners, Russ and Jacqueline Olivo, said Burrillville Animal Control Officer Ronald J. Woods informed them Friday afternoon that the pit bull’s owner, Julie Ozerson, who lives with her boyfriend, Timothy Fowler, at 180 West Ironstone St. decided to have the dog euthanized.

“Nobody has to tell me how hard it is to lose a beloved pet, so I understand this was not an easy decision for the owners to make and we give them a great deal of credit for having made this

difficult decision,” Russ Olivo said. “Under the circumstances, however, we think it’s the best decision for them, their dog and the overall safety of the neighborhood.”

“As we continue to struggle with the loss of our dog, we take little comfort in the death of another, though we hope this unfortunate resolution may help us move toward some kind of closure over this tragic event,” he said.

Ozerson’s decision to put the dog down comes after a three-member panel of arbitrators, including Burrillville Police Officer Sgt. Kyle Generoux, RISPCA Special Agent Joseph Warzycha and Glocester Animal Control Officer Penny Silvia, decided unanimously on April 25 to declare the dog, an 85pound brindle pit bull named Jack, dangerous. The dog had been impounded at the Burrillville Animal Shelter since the April 16 attack on West Ironstone Street that killed the Olivos’ seven-year-old mixed breed Chihuahua named Chloe.

The panel classified the pit bull as vicious based on the state’s definition, and as a result, Ozerson and Fowler were required to, among other things, take out a vicious dog insurance policy; tattoo or microchip the dog; erect a locked six-sided enclosure that the dog had to be kept in at all times when outside; and use a leash and muzzle every time the dog was moved back and forth from the house to the six-sided enclosure.

In addition, they were prohibited from letting anyone under the age of 16 handle the dog and under orders not to give away or sell the dog.

Euthanasia was not an option on the table at the hearing, but it would have been considered if the dog had attacked again, or the owners failed to comply with any of the stipulations.

Ozerson agreed to all of those conditions at the hearing and had already erected the sixsided enclosure, but at some point earlier this week apparently decided instead to have the dog euthanized. Jackie Olivo said she received a phone call from Woods Friday confirming that the dog had been euthanized that afternoon.

In his testimony before the panel on April 25, Olivo said he and his wife had just delivered a cake to a neighbor and were walking eastbound on West Ironstone Road when the attacked occurred just after 10:30 a.m., about three-tenths of a mile from their own home. Olivo’s wife was walking Chloe on a leash and he was picking up litter along the side of the road when the pit bull ran out into the street and charged at them full-speed.

Olivo said his wife grabbed Chloe, but the pit bull lunged up and ripped her from her arms. As the pit bull was mauling the smaller dog, Olivo, Fowler and Ozerson tried to wrestle the pit bull away from the bloodied Chihuahua.

In his testimony, Fowler said he opened his back door to go out and get something when the 4-year-old pit bull “snuck around me” and ran outside. Fowler rents the single-family home at 180 West Ironstone Road. Ozerson, the dog’s registered owner, has been living with Fowler since August of last year. Ozerson, originally from Milford, had owned the dog since December of 2013.