Selectmen asked to ban Hingham Square dogs
The Hingham animal control officer and the owners of a local art gallery are at odds over whether the couple’s two dogs should be allowed at the business after one of the dogs allegedly bit two customers.
Megan and Bob Ullman are expected to meet with the Hingham Board of Selectmen Tuesday for a hearing about Gabriella and Spartacus, two English mastiffs who until last summer were fixtures at the Ullman’s Hingham Square Art Gallery.
The Ullmans had asked for a six- to eight-week extension on the hearing, and selectmen gave two weeks.
Megan Ullman said the dogs were popular features at the gallery until one day in June 2008 when Gabriella allegedly bit a woman who walked in as Ullman stepped outside and did not lock the door behind her.
“We dispute it was a bite,’’ Ullman said. “There was no bite, no blood, no scratches.’’ She said the dogs are not vicious and have been a welcome sight for thousands of customers who have visited the gallery since it opened five years ago.
After the incident, Ullman said, Animal Control Officer Leslie Badger asked them not to bring the dogs to the art gallery, and the family cooperated by leaving the dogs at their Simmons Road home.
In July, Badger was at the Ullmans’ home to help search for a 10-foot pet boa constrictor that slithered away when it was put outside to bask in the sun.
The snake was found after a three-hour search.
Board of Selectmen chairman Laura Burns said a hearing scheduled for last week was postponed at the Ullmans’ request and rescheduled for Tuesday.
Burns said she is unsure if Badger is asking selectmen to ban the dogs from the business or the town as a whole.
Badger declined comment and invited all interested parties to attend the hearing, which begins at 7:30 p.m.
“I don’t want to jeopardize my case,’’ Badger said.
Megan Ullman, reached by phone at the gallery Tuesday afternoon, said she was unaware the new hearing was set for Tuesday, and said the Ullmans have asked for an extension.
