Franklin County prosecutor Diane Wheeler plans to retire next month amid new complaints that she is defying legal orders regarding her notorious dog, Moose.
Wheeler, a Burlington resident who has served as a deputy state’s attorney in Franklin County since 1995, submitted her resignation on Thursday, according to her boss, State’s Attorney Bram Kranichfeld. It’s effective September 20.
In a written statement, Kranichfeld commended Wheeler for her many years of service.
“Ms. Wheeler has devoted her life to serving the people of Franklin County and Vermont,” Kranichfeld wrote. “We thank her for her service and congratulate her on her retirement.”
Wheeler filed her resignation just days before the City of Burlington will hold a hearing on a slew of complaints accusing Wheeler of possessing Moose this summer in defiance of legal orders.
As part of a 2025 order from Burlington’s Animal Control Committee, Moose is not allowed to be at Wheeler’s home under any circumstances. He’s also not allowed to be under Wheeler’s sole care. But authorities have received six separate complaints in the past few months from people claiming to have seen the two together within city limits.
In one of those complaints, Wheeler was reportedly seen on the grounds of Hunt Middle School while Moose roamed off-leash. In another, Wheeler can be seen on video with Moose in Ethan Allen Park, without a muzzle or head collar as required.
And in July, she was ticketed for violating the Animal Control Committee order after a neighbor said she saw Moose in the backseat of Wheeler’s car at her house.
A hearing is scheduled for Monday in Burlington.
The latest spate of incidents has frustrated Wheeler’s neighbors, who wrote to city officials last month calling for Moose to be impounded for good.
“Why has the city not taken this dog away, especially as the Wheelers continue to ignore the law, orders, and mandates?” read a letter signed by seven households. “Enough is enough.”
Wheeler did not return a call for comment.
Wheeler adopted Moose in January 2023, and the 60-pound mutt began wreaking havoc in her New North End neighborhood almost immediately. By March 2024, complaints of repeated attacks on pets and humans convinced Burlington’s Animal Control Committee to designate Moose a “vicious dog” and order that Wheeler relinquish possession of him.
Wheeler resisted the order for months, giving in only after a fed up judge threatened her with jail time. In October 2024, Moose was removed from her house by police, and he was later rehomed with her sister, who lives elsewhere in Burlington.
Wheeler has since maintained that Moose has been living elsewhere. But neighbors say they have repeatedly witnessed the dog back at or around Wheeler’s home, while colleagues have said she brought the dog to the office, even after Kranichfeld banned animals there.
Then, this April, Moose attacked a defense attorney near the St. Albans courthouse, biting part of the woman’s lip off. The victim told police that Wheeler brought her to say hello to the dog, who lunged through a car door. (Wheeler has disputed this telling, claiming the defense attorney invaded Moose’s personal space without invitation.)
Wheeler defended Moose in an interview with the Boston Globe, calling him a “trauma dog” who had been abused before coming to live with her.
But neighbors say it is only a matter of time before someone is gravely injured — or worse.
“The neighborhood is full of kids running around and yelling, dogs out and about, and all sorts of foot traffic on the street,” they wrote. “These are conditions that for an aggressive, traumatized, untrained and unsupported dog like Moose will lead to a horrible outcome.”
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