Dogs involved in fatal attack on teen to be euthanized

DIGHTON, Mass. – Authorities say five dogs that attacked and killed a 14-year-old Massachusetts boy who regularly took care of them will be euthanized.

The three-member Dighton Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Wednesday to have the dogs — four Belgian Malinois and a Dutch shepherd —involved in the May 9 death of Ryan Hazel put down. Several other dogs were also on the property at the time of the attack.

Local police, animal control and the Bristol district attorney’s office backed the decision.

Board Chairman Kenneth Pacheco said “it was a tough decision, however it was the right decision.”

The dogs’ owner, who trained the animals on his property, did not contest the decision.

Ryan was a freshman at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in Taunton, Massachusetts.