A dog who attacked a man in Burlington’s Leddy Park in September is no longer in his owner’s custody.
Moose, a 65-pound mutt owned by Franklin County prosecutor Diane Wheeler, was surrendered to a Milton kennel earlier this month. He is to live with Wheeler’s sister in Burlington’s New North End until he enrolls in a training program in early November, according to a court-approved agreement between Wheeler and the city.
Signed on October 17, the agreement says Wheeler could someday get her dog back — but only if Burlington city officials approve of their living arrangements.
The deal effectively ends a monthslong legal battle with Wheeler, who neighbors say is unfit to care for the rescue dog. Moose has attacked, bit and charged at people and pets nearly a dozen times, neighbors have said, including the latest incident at Leddy Park, which sent a man to the emergency room with hand wounds. Wheeler’s mother, Carol, had been walking Moose at the time.
“The City wants all residents and their pets to be safe,” Burlington City Attorney Jessica Brown said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor compliance with orders issued by the Court and by the Animal Control Committee with respect to requirements for Moose’s care.”
But one of Wheeler’s neighbors isn’t pleased. In a statement, Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, who uses they/them pronouns, said they’re “appalled” that the city and courts would even consider returning Moose to Wheeler someday.
“It is clear, to me, that the court is giving Diane Wheeler favor,” they wrote, noting that Wheeler has failed to pay fines related to Moose’s attacks and, during the case, didn’t show up for a court hearing.
“If this was anyone else, this dog would be long gone,” they added. “This isn’t justice, this is preferential treatment for a state prosecutor.”
Neither Wheeler nor her sister, Deborah Lessor, responded to interview requests from Seven Days.
Wheeler’s neighbors say Moose’s bad behavior started soon after she adopted him in January 2023. A year later, five households complained to the city’s Animal Control Committee, which issued an order deeming Moose a vicious dog and requiring Wheeler to find him a new home within 30 days. In the meantime, Moose was to remain leashed and in the control of “a capable adult” while on walks, the order said.
Wheeler appealed to the Vermont Superior Court, where Judge Samuel Hoar Jr. issued even more stringent conditions while allowing Wheeler time to prepare a case to keep the dog.
The Leddy Park incident happened two weeks later, prompting a court order that allowed the city to impound Moose until the judge could rule on Wheeler’s appeal. Wheeler didn’t surrender the dog, telling the judge that the issue was moot because she and Moose had “temporarily relocated” and planned to move out of town.
She then filed a motion to dismiss her own appeal. The filing repeated her previous contention that the city’s process was politically tainted because Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, who is Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak’s sibling, was among the neighbors who filed the original complaint about Moose.
In the motion, Wheeler criticized Burlington police for spending “too much time addressing a dog issue” when the department is short-staffed, and the local media for covering the case. “Moose has seemingly received more media attention than almost any violent crime in Burlington,” she wrote. “Instead of focusing on a dog who needs services, the media could focus on how to support victims of child abuse, sexual abuse, abuse of vulnerable people, domestic violence and victims of other violent crimes.”
Wheeler then emailed city officials to say that because she’d dismissed her own case, there was no need to rehome the dog. The city asked Judge Hoar to intervene, and on October 9, he issued a strongly worded order that told Wheeler to surrender Moose to police or “face sanctions for contempt,” including “being remanded to the custody of the Vermont Department of Corrections.”
The following week, the parties had an agreement. It says Moose will stay at Pinebrook Kennels in Milton until Lessor, Wheeler’s sister, obtains a license from the city to house Moose — which she did on October 17, city records show. Brown, the city attorney, said officials “vetted” the Lessors and their home on Westminster Drive, which is about two miles from Wheeler’s house on Roseade Parkway.
While there, the order says, Moose will be kept “under the direct control and management” of the Lessors. On walks, Moose will wear a muzzle and prong collar. He can only be outside on the Lessors’ property if wearing those devices while “attached to a steel lead installed on the porch,” the order says.
On November 10, Moose will enter a residential training program with MotoDog Training in East Montpelier, an outfit focused on “creating better communication between you and your dog,” its website says.
The order spells out a path for Wheeler to get her dog back. To live with Moose in Burlington, she would have to convince the city’s Animal Control Committee to reinstate her dog license. Then, she would need to prove that she could meet the requirements in the city order, which says she’d need to “securely contain Moose such that he cannot roam off of the premises.” Wheeler had previously refused to install a physical fence or to outfit the dog with a muzzle due to his “past trauma.”
The city would have the right to approve Wheeler’s residence for Moose even if they moved out of town, the order says. In either case, the city could opt to visit the home and interview “concerned persons” before making a decision, according to the order.
Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, meantime, questioned whether the Lessors’ neighbors were notified that Moose would be living next door, even temporarily. They hope Moose will never be returned to the Wheelers’ care.
The Wheelers “show no remorse as this dog has mauled humans and other dogs in front of them,” Mulvaney-Stanak wrote. “That kind of gall only comes from people who think they are above the law and just don’t care about others. Shame on them and shame on the court for this outcome.”
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!