The City of Burlington and Franklin County prosecutor Diane Wheeler reached an agreement earlier this month to relocate a 65-pound brindle mix that the city has deemed “vicious” and require the dog, named Moose, to undergo intensive behavioral training.
The court-approved agreement, signed Oct. 17 and first reported by Seven Days, ordered the dog, which had been impounded at a Milton kennel, to be relocated to the home of Wheeler’s sister, Deborah Lessor, who lives in Burlington’s New North End. Starting November 10, according to agreement, the dog is to enroll in a full-time residential boarding and training program in East Montpelier.
The agreement appears to resolve a long-running dispute between two politically connected neighbors in the New North End — at least for now. The situation pitted against one another Wheeler, a longtime Franklin County deputy state’s attorney, and neighbor Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, the twin sibling of Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.
The conflict began in early 2023 when Wheeler received a warning and then a ticket for Moose’s behavior and escalated in January 2024, when Llu Mulvaney-Stanak and other neighbors wrote a letter to the city’s animal control committee expressing their concerns about Moose.
The letter detailed nearly a dozen incidents of Moose attacking, biting and charging at people and other pets over a span of six months, particularly when allowed outside without a leash. Even after the city deemed Moose to be a vicious dog and ordered him to be rehomed — and after a court ordered him to be kept under control — Moose attacked a man in Leddy Park in September, sending him to an emergency room.
The agreement between Wheeler and the city appears to resolve litigation over the matter. It sets certain conditions on Moose’s care at Lessor’s home: requiring him to be on a steel lead attached to the porch and wear both a prong collar and muzzle whenever he is outside on the property. While on walks, he must be muzzled and leashed with a prong collar.
Wheeler and her mother, Carol, with whom she lives, had previously lost their dog license, but the agreement leaves open the possibility that they might regain custody of Moose after he is retrained. To meet the city’s requirements, Wheeler must demonstrate that her living arrangements securely contain Moose, preventing him from roaming off the property. Previously, Wheeler had declined to install a physical fence or use a muzzle on Moose because of his “past trauma” from being bitten by another dog.
If Wheeler or Lessor fail to meet the conditions of the agreement or otherwise violate municipal animal regulations, the city has the right to take Moose back into custody without further court approval.
Neither Wheeler nor Lesser responded to requests for comment by phone and email.
Llu Mulvaney-Stanak expressed frustration with the agreement — and its focus on the dog, rather than its owners.
“Nowhere in the most recent court order is Diane Wheeler or her mother, who is the primary dog walker, being ordered to receive training to control this dog. That was and has always been the issue at hand,” said Mulvaney-Stanak, in an emailed statement. “They are unfit to own or care for this dog. That has not changed and it won’t change.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington orders training and new home for county prosecutor’s ‘vicious’ dog — at least for now.