Giannetti v. Thomas

When defendants’ Rottweiler dogs escaped from their property and ran unleashed in the plaintiffs’ neighborhood, the plaintiffs brought an action for civil contempt against the defendants in the Superior Court for violation of the terms of a preliminary injunction entered in a pending action. The injunction prohibited the defendants from allowing the dogs to leave their premises unless they were securely leashed. After a hearing, the judge found the defendants in contempt and imposed a prospective, coercive fine upon three of the defendants, payable to the Commonwealth. From the judgment of…