Breakheart chairman upset over dogs running loose

SAUGUS – Breakheart Reservation is being dogged by a canine problem that in one instance left a little girl with two big bites.Ed Murray, chairman of the Friends of Breakheart said a park visitor let their dog off its leash and the result was not a friendly romp.”The dog ran into the lake and bit a girl on both calves,” he said. “It was a YMCA trip. They were not happy.”Murray is not happy either, but more so is frustrated by his inability to do anything about patrons who let their dogs off their leashes. If caught, park rangers can write tickets to offending dog owners, if they can get their names.”If they refuse to give their names there is really nothing we can do,” he said.Because Breakheart is under the Department of Conservation and Recreation umbrella, Murray said K-9 Officer Harold Young has no jurisdiction inside the park. Murray said that also bothers him since the town regularly inspects the visitor center’s kitchen.”I don’t understand why they can inspect our kitchen but do nothing about the dogs,” he said. “I think there is a little contradiction there.”Health Agent Frank Giacalone said the town did at one time inspect the kitchen, but doesn’t anymore. Two or three years ago, when Giacalone was an inspector with the town, he said he visited Breakheart, but that was also his last time.”There was a lot of hoopla up there about locals inspecting a state facility,” he said. “I never went back.”Police Lt. Mike Annese said it seems to be one of those areas that slipped through the cracks.”It’s funny that no one has ever covered that issue,” he said. “You’d think someone would have come up with a way to address it.”Murray said if an offending dog owner failed to give a name, the ranger could follow the person back to their car, take down the license plate number and turn it over to the State Police. That, however, requires a lot of time that the rangers don’t always have.Annese said it could also lead to ugly situations.”That could create problems and also quite possibly confrontations,” he said. “If Harry (Young) could go in he could cite the owner or quarantine the dog. There should be a way to do that.”Since there isn’t currently a way to handle anonymous offenders and since Murray doesn’t expect the problem to end anytime soon, he is warning dog owners who do continue to let their dogs run free.Earlier this summer in another DCR park, Murray said the owner of two bulldogs decided to let his dogs wander freely.”They took off chasing a small animal,” he said. “When the animal got tired of being chased it turned on them and killed both dogs. It was a fisher cat. People have to be careful.”