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Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, December 6, 2019 Annual Pet Photo Night crash and get injured. You need to protect your dog.” And I told her I was going to give her a violation. As I was writing the violation, the dog stuck his head under the open screen door and bit me in the leg; the dog stuck his head under the bottom of the door and bit me. Then I gave her another ticket on part of that. Q: And you had to get rabies shots? A: I already had them. They are pre-exposure shots that protect me. I deal with a lot of raccoons and skunks, so I have to have them. So, I didn’t need a rabies shot that day. Q: So, what was the second time you got bitten? A: The second one was inThe Madrigal family of Saugus with pups Hana (Maltese-Shih Tzu mix), Emma (Maltese), posed for pictures with Santa during the Annual Pet Photo Night event with Santa at Square One Mall on November 24. (Courtesy Photo to The Saugus Advocate) ASKS | from page 10 A: Yeah – and the law; she was showing a lack of respect for the law. I didn’t have any more encounters with that lady. That was it. Q: How old was she, about? A: I’d say she was in her 30s, late 20s or early 30s. Q: So that was in the Golden Hills area. Nice house? A: She was actually living with a former Hells Angel. I ran into a lot of them. Q: What was the scariest moment of your career as a dog officer? A: There were one or two incidents where I had to go into a house with a search warrant. In the first one, there was a Doberman pinscher right at the front door, and he wanted to rip me apart. I had the rabies pole with me. I had to jump into the house. He ran up on the couch and was struggling with me, and there was a police officer behind me. Q: Did you get bitten? A: Nope. We got him, secured him in the car and took him. There was a search warrant for another one. I was with the Sheriff’s Department. The Police Department was there, and we had the warrant for this person. And as we were going into the house, I had a shotgun over my shoulder, and as we looked into the house, there was a pit bull out front. And I said to myself, “Oh, I got myself into a situation here.” But that worked out fine. And in another one, I reported to a double homicide where Lynnfield was looking for assistance. They had a double homicide with two dogs up in the bedroom. There are so many things you run into while doing your job. There was a car that flipped over on Route 1 with a German shepherd in the back that wanted to rip everybody apart. These are just a few things that come to mind out of so many situations. The horse farm was the most tragic one. Up on Great Woods Road where they had the barn fire, 12 to 14 horses died, and I had to go to that. Q: In the course of your career, were you ever bitten? A: Twice. My first one – during my first year on the job – there was a German shepherd running around, and I could never catch it; when I went after it, it ran down the street and back into the house. I went to the house and told the lady it was loose and I was trying to catch it. And she said, “Well, he’s in the house now.” And I said, “No, that’s the point. Your dog was loose. It could get into a car volving a bad person. The state troopers had a car pulled over on a stormy night on Lincoln Avenue. And what happened there – he had a pit bull in the back seat. He had the doors locked. The state troopers and the Saugus police were trying to get him out of the vehicle, and the dog was going crazy. Meanwhile, my vehicle was all frozen up that night, and I went out in my own personal vehicle and a leash with me to see what was going on. I knew the person in some respects – not good. And I told him, “Listen. Get out of the car so we can all search the car and we can all go home instead of standing around here because you know you are not going anywhere.” And these are state troopers behind me as I am telling him this. And I said, “Get out so we can search the car and we can all go home.” So, he takes the dog out, and I go to put the dog on the leash, and he gets me right here on the wrist. My hand swelled up immediately. I took the dog – locked the dog up. They arrested him. I went to the hospital, came back and went to work the next day; most people would take the week off, but I went back to work the next day. I took him to court. I won my case. Q: So, twice in your career, you have been bitten. A: Yes. Q: So that was in the early part of your career? A: The second time was 10 years ago. The first one was the early part of ’94. Other than those two incidents, I was never bitten. Q: Let’s talk about rabies a bit. That’s an ongoing, very serious concern, isn’t it? A: Yes. Rabies has always been an issue – a public safety concern. Anyone who is bitten by a rabid dog or animal needs to seek medical attention, because you only have about 14 days to get it treated; otherwise, there’s nothing you can do. The last person in Massachusetts to die from rabies was in 1936 – a 12-yearold boy from Saugus. I met the aunt back in the mid-90s. Q: In your experience, is there anything meaner than a junkyard dog? A: I would say the people who train them to be mean. Years ago, you had a lot of drug dealers, and what they used to do – they would cut the vocal cords out of the dogs – and when you did a drug bust, you wouldn’t know that the dog was in the house. Q: And they would just sneak up on you? A: Exactly. They would come down on you before you knew it. That was something that they did. I have a lot of strange stories, many of them. Q: You responded to a lot of dog bites? A: Yes, many of them. And people would try to avoid the fines. The one thing is, if you don’t pay those fines, they become criminal. Q: How many fines do you estimate you have handed down over the years? A: In the early years, I used to hand down quite a few of them. As the years went along, I got down to eight to 10, because a lot of people knew that I was in town. I would patrol this whole town every morning. I would start from the Wakefield line, all the way up to Water Street, moving all the way down to the center of town, moving down to the east part of town. I traveled every street. As I got calls from people on my machine from certain neighborhoods, I would check each neighborhood because I always felt that visibility is a good deterrent. And that was something I did regularly. Q: About how many miles did you do? A: I estimated that I put on HARRY YOUNG’S ENTOURAGE: Retired Saugus Animal Control Officer Harry Young, holding citations, joined by family members at this week’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting, when he was honored. Joining Young are, left to right, his wife, Zwetlana, holding her grandson, Exadile, Young with his granddaughter, Junardi; daughter Gabrielle; daughter Ashley, daughter-in-law Jennifer; sister-in-law Lubmilla; and sister Alicia. Young’s brother Arthur is in the rear row. 60 to 70 miles a day. I covered the whole town. I used to have to take dogs to my own faciliASKS | SEE PAGE 13

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