Lewiston shelter making changes after dog kills another and injures 2 people

LEWISTON — The Greater Androscoggin Humane Society is planning to limit where potential adopters may take the shelter’s dogs and how long the animals may stay outside.

The change comes a week after a visitor took one of the shelter’s dogs on a walk, then to a friend’s apartment, where the dog killed another dog and injured two people.

The shelter had allowed the man to walk the dog he was considering adopting, but he was not supposed to take it to another building and had been told not to let it interact with other dogs.

Executive Director Steve Dostie said the shelter’s new policies are a work in progress, but that it plans to restrict outside visits to a fenced-in area and limit them to 15 minutes. The shelter will also take visitors’ cellphone numbers so employees can call those who are late bringing dogs back inside.

The shelter is looking to create four fenced-in visiting areas near the building. Each section would be designed so the dogs cannot see one another.

“I think for visiting the animal, it will work out well,” Dostie said. “The dog will be in one spot, so they can focus.”

Such an area cannot be built until snow has melted. In the meantime, the shelter will allow only one dog outside at a time.

“We’re keeping a closer watch to make sure everyone does what they’re supposed to,” Dostie said.

The shelter will still provide an inside visiting room and continue taking the identifications of potential adopters visiting dogs.