Shelter sought for condemned Hingham dog

But the dogs are gone.

The town selectmen have ordered Gabriella to be euthanized after she bit two customers, a decision that stunned the owners and broke the hearts of the people who made the decision.

Now the owners are trying to find a no-kill shelter that will take the dog.

In the days since the decision, police have disclosed several other complaints against the shop owners, Bob and Megan Ullman, about their dogs.

Twice the Ullmans have faced misdemeanor charges in Hingham District Court because of the dogs, and area merchants and selectmen say the owners have often failed to keep close watch of the two English mastiffs, which weigh about 140 pounds apiece.

“They never should have had her in the shop in the first place,’’ said Catherine McLaughlin, an 18-year-old server at Brewed Awakenings. “They set their dog up to get killed. They put her in that position, but she shouldn’t die for their mistake.’’

Selectmen chairwoman Laura Burns said the Ullmans’ actions after the first biting incident left officials little choice.

“They had already defied the authority of the police on multiple occasions, multiple times. We couldn’t trust them to follow what we wanted them to do,’’ Burns said in an interview. “They put us in an impossible position, and I did what was best for public safety and residents, even though I’m saddened by it.’’

One of the victims was Stacey Wakefield, wife of Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, who was bitten in June 2008. She described her bite as a 1 1/2-inch wound on her thigh that broke the skin.

A year later, the dog bit a second customer, Krista Brewer, who told selectmen that Gabriella’s teeth caused a puncture wound in her stomach.

Police Chief Taylor Mills showed photographs of Brewer’s bruised and swollen abdomen taken after the attack.

Mills said that the dog was seen at the South Street gallery after the first biting incident, and that the Ullmans were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The charge was reduced to a civil infraction, and the Ullmans paid a $25 fine and agreed to keep the dogs out of the shop.

The Ullmans face another criminal charge of disorderly conduct because of the second biting incident a year later.

After the second bite, Lieutenant Mike Perraino said complaints about the dogs increased.

Police log entries show six calls about the dogs in a two-month period this past summer. Some calls were complaints that the dogs were running loose in the square. Another reported the dogs in the store. Another reported dogs barking, and yet another reported a large dog out front barking.

“After the second bite, people seemed to not want the dogs there anymore,’’ Perraino said. “We got more calls and complaints.’’

Merchants and others in town said while some customers loved the dogs and came to the gallery to visit them, as the Ullmans have said, others feared the mastiffs. What irked some was that the dogs often lounged on the sidewalk in front of the gallery unleashed - a violation of the town’s leash law.

Since the selectmen’s decision, the Ullmans have said they will appeal and hope to find a compromise. One idea they suggested to selectmen was finding a no-kill shelter that will take the dog, said Town Administrator Kevin Paicos. He said selectmen might be in favor of that, but a judge would have to make the decision.

The Ullmans have said the bites are not drastic enough to take Gabriella’s life.

“It was our fault, not the dog’s,’’ Bob Ullman said. “We didn’t lock the door, but there was a sign in the window that said closed, and they went in anyway. I still maintain there was a 50-50 responsibility.’’

Around Hingham, residents interviewed this week were more likely to blame the dog owners, not the dogs.

Russell Reeves, who was getting coffee at Brewed Awakenings, said he has been in the shop and has not seen the dogs be aggressive.

He said the decision to euthanize is too harsh, especially when all parties admit it’s not the dog’s fault, but the owners.

“You can’t euthanize the owners,’’ Reeves said. “There has to be another option. There has to be someone up in Maine or somewhere to take them.’’

Selectman John Riley said that Gabriella may be sweet and lovable most of the time, but that she has shown that she can be dangerous when she is left unattended.

Riley said he once went into the shop to buy a postcard. He said both dogs growled low as he walked through the store. He said he paid for the postcard and has not been to the shop since.

“We could go around in circles with this, but there is a pattern of biting and a pattern by the owners of not complying with the town’s demands,’’ Riley said. “Our job is to protect the public.’’