The College and the town are beefing up regulations against dogs by banning canines living in College-owned houses and creating an animal control position.
Beginning Summer term, pets will no longer be allowed in College-owned houses, Office of Residential Life Assistant Director Bernard Haskell said. The ban will effectively bring College-owned Greek houses under the same guidelines that prohibit pets in dormitories.
Haskell said he met with Greek house representatives and Hanover Police Sgt. Chris O'Connor in April to explain the new regulations.
At that meeting, O'Connor announced the appointment of an animal control officer who will enforce pet laws in Hanover.
A dog can receive an abatement for being "a menace, a nuisance or viscous," O'Conner said. Fraterntiy dogs, including those owned by Alpha Delta and Zeta Psi fraternities, have received three of the four abatement orders given out this year, he said.
Three and a half weeks ago, Zete's dog, Mo, was placed in the Upper Valley Humane Society for 10 days for barking at someone who reported him to the police, Zete brother Ben Dean '94 said yesterday. Dean said he will take Mo with him after graduation.
Dean said Mo, who is a repeat offender, is now on a leash all day. If Mo violates any more dog laws he will be permanently taken away from Dartmouth and brought back to the Humane Society, Dean said.
Neither the police nor Dean knew the extent of Mo's criminal record.
ORL decision
Haskell said animals have been a "constant problem" on campus.
He said postal carriers no longer deliver mail to the 12 Greek houses on Webster Avenue because they have been harassed by packs of house dogs.
Haskell said Greek house dogs have created other problems, including chasing joggers, bikers and continuously barking.
Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity, Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority and Sigma Delta sorority, College-owned houses that currently own dogs, will have to get rid of their pets, Haskell said.
Haskell said all the dogs currently living in the houses will be adopted by graduating seniors at the end of this term. He added that dogs are still allowed in the houses, but cannot live there.
Haskell said Chi Heorot fraternity, whose physical structure is owned by Dartmouth, has not been allowed to have pets for two years because the dogs stopped Facilities, Operations and Management workers from entering the house.
"We want to be consistent in our houses so they have the same rules as the residence halls," Haskell said.
He said ORL prohibits pets in dorm rooms because of students with allergies and the damage dogs may cause.
Animal Control Officer
O'Connor said Eugene Thorburn started work last week as the new animal control officer of Hanover. Previously, he worked as animal control officer for Thetford, Vt. and Hartford, Vt. but now shares his time between the three towns.
For the past two years, Hanover Police officers have enforced the laws, but there was no member of the squad dedicated specifically to animal control, O'Connor said.
"Basically what you have is a number of dogs, most of them College -- house -- dogs, during the good weather, roaming in packs of two or three or even four," O'Connor said.
Hanover has a leash law that required dogs to be within sight or hearing distance of their owners.
"We have and will continue to be very aggressive in the legal way of seizing dogs," he said.
Thorburn could not be reached for comment.
