WILTON – After biting three people in the past 13 days, Moxie the dog is locked up.

Around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the 2-year-old Rottweiler-shepherd mix bit a woman on her upper thigh while she was walking down Depot Street. The woman was taken by ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital, Wilton Animal Control Officer Wayne Atwood said Tuesday.

“That same dog has bit two other people,” he said. After the first bite occurred on July 21, Atwood ordered Moxie’s owner, 19-year-old Jennifer Mathers of Depot Street, to quarantine the dog, and not let her out of the house except on a leash for 10 days.

But Moxie got out, somehow, and attacked someone else on July 25. Again, the dog was quarantined, and again, she got out.

The attack Tuesday was the last straw, and along with state animal welfare representatives and police officer Richard Cusson, Atwood took possession of her.

“The dog was signed over to the town,” Atwood said. Moxie will be quarantined for 10 days. He wouldn’t say if he planned to euthanize her, or not. “We’ll know in 12 days what the status is with that dog.”

Police Chief Wayne Gallant said Wednesday that the incident concerned him.

“The dog owner did not have good control over the dog,” he said. “No citizen walking the streets of a town should have to worry about a dog coming out of a yard or house and biting them.”

Atwood said Moxie’s case is the first time in all his 18 years as an ACO he’s had a dog under quarantine continue to be let out to bite people. “It’s very unusual,” he said. “Normally, most people will quarantine the dog for 10 days.”

Mathers could not be located for comment Wednesday.

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