Durbin v. Board of Selectmen

On April 10, 1999, two dogs belonging to the Durbins, then residents of Kingston, attacked a small child. Acting in response to a complaint from the child’s father, pursuant to G. L. c. 140, § 157,2 the Kingston board of selectmen determined that the two dogs were “a nuisance by reason of vicious disposition,” and ordered the dogs to be destroyed. The proceedings arising from that complaint have worked their way from the Kingston board of selectmen to the District Court clerk-magistrate to a judge of the District Court to a judge of the Superior Court, with each tribunal determining the…