Bristol voters will have a chance to cast a secret ballot on a proposed special town ordinance seeking to bar a resident from establishing a refuge for wolf hybrids.
Following a hearing where more than a dozen residents expressed opposition ranging from ire to fear of the proposed wolf hybrid refuge, the Bristol Board of Selectman scheduled a secret ballot on the question for July 20.
Voting will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Bristol Town Hall.
The proposed refuge is the pet project of James C. Doughty who wants to construct a series of pens and fences on his nine-acre property off Poor Farm Road in Bristol.
His neighbor, Carmen Salarno, who lives just up the hill from Doughty, and others, expressed fear that the animals might get out and harm their children. Salarno circulated a petition seeking an ordinance banning a wolf hybrid kennel or refuge. More than 170 voters signed the petition.
Doughty told the more than 35 citizens who attended Wednesday’s hearing, that he planned to construct three one-acre pens ringed by double chain link fences that are eight to 10 feet high. He said it would meet all state regulations and the animals would be vaccinated and kept inside at all times. Up to 18 animals would be housed at the facility.
He said the animals are not ferocious.
“They are shy and timid if pushed. They will be chipped (fitted with microchips) and tattooed (for identification),” he said.
The self-employed contractor plans to build the facility himself and has budgeted about $15,000 for the construction.
Doughty has a pair of wolf hybrids and says they are friendly.
Salarno said her children had gone to his house and had no problem with the animals.
That was about the last nice statement uttered about his proposal and wolf hybrids during the meeting.
Stacey O’Brien said the proposed facility was being sited in a neighborhood. “I commend you for your concern for the animals, but it is absurd to put this in a neighborhood,” she said. “These are not pets. If my grand children got ripped off…it is crazy.”
Dean Russell, who said he lives across the river from Doughty, complained that Doughty’s two wolf hybrid pets howl at night and keep him up.
“I made myself get used to that with two of them, but five of them…I don’t think I could get to sleep. A man has a right to sleep in his own house,” Russell said.
Selectman Paul Yates told Doughty that a lot of people are just afraid that something might happen (should the animals escape the pens).
Greg Sawyer, a former neighbor, said Doughty’s two wolf hybrids once got out of their pens and one grabbed Sawyer’s goat by the neck.
“They are killers,” he said.
Another resident chimed in. “Small children and dogs and cats are prey.”
Janna Day, a resident of East Boothbay and a self-proclaimed advocate for wolf hybrid refuges, lectured Doughty.
“I get the feeling (from the crowd) that if they get out, someone is going to shoot them. This is a neighborhood. I don’t understand why you want to put it (Bristol),” she said.
“Why don’t you sell your property and move. I wish you would move up country and leave all this animosity behind. I wish people were not as fearful, as they are, but they are,” she said.
Megan Fitzpatrick, who said she was an owner of a wolf hybrid pet, said the animals were great animals, but “mine killed the neighbor’s dog and cats. I worry about the small children,” she said.
Doughty argued state law prohibits towns from enacting breed specific ordinances and said he would comply with state regulations. Town Administrator Kris Poland said she had consulted with legal counsel and agreed with Doughty that the town’s proposed ordinance barring wolf hybrid kennels and refuges might be futile.
The contractor said the proposed kennel/refuge would not be built over night or over this year. “If the money does not come in, it would not be built,” he said.
Then, as the hearing wound down, a resident pleaded with him.
“Will you take the concerns of your neighbors and friends into consideration?” one woman asked Doughty.
“I will take everything into consideration,” he said.
