Hingham dog gets execution reprieve

By L.E. Crowley, Town correspondent

A Hingham dog sentenced to death can instead be moved to a shelter in New York state, after Hingham officials agreed to a compromise that would save the dog’s life.

During a hearing at Hingham District Court this morning, Hingham Animal Control Officer Leslie Badger said she has located a kennel where Gabriella, an 8-year-old English mastiff owned by Robert and Megan Ullman, would not be euthanized.

“She would be a lifer and live out the rest of her life there,” Badger said.

Clerk Magistrate Andrew Quigley rejected a proposal by the Ullmans to place the dog with a Rockland kennel, a location closer to home.

Quigley affirmed the town’s decision to euthanize the dog, but added a condition that allows Gabriella to be moved to the shelter in New York. Although Gabriella has bitten twice, Quigley said, he is uncomfortable categorizing her as vicious, but added that the community needed to be protected from the possibility of a third incident.

Officials wouldn’t specify the location of the shelter. The dog is to be moved as soon as transportation can be arranged, but the Ullmans’ lawyer, Jeffrey Clifford, said early this afternoon that the family is considering an appeal.

The dog has been kept at an undisclosed location since last month, when Hingham selectmen reluctantly ordered the pet euthanized because of two biting incidents over the last two years at the Ullmans’ art gallery in Hingham Square.

Robert Ullman has said the selectmen’s hearing was unfair to the family because they did not have the documents or evidence given to selectmen on the night of hearing and did not have an attorney. The last thing they expected, Ullman has said, was a recommendation to euthanize Gabriella.

Selectmen have said that because the Ullmans continually brought their dogs to the gallery and a second biting happened, they could not trust the Ullmans, and voted to euthanize the dog. Late last month, the board took the unusual step of issuing a statement explaining its decision.