Massachusetts’ highest court has upheld a generational ban on tobacco sales in Brookline.
A bylaw took effect in 2021 prohibiting the sale of tobacco to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2000.
“By affirming a lower court’s dismissal of…
Massachusetts
Mass. needs more health care workers — can virtual reality help train them?
While new jobs data released Friday put the Massachusetts unemployment rate at an ultra-low 3%, the demand for workers in health care is surging to incredibly high levels.
The health care sector had 49,030 job openings as of January 2024, according…
Methuen casket company calls on America to ‘bury’ daylight saving time
For a casket company, loss is part of the business. But losing an hour of sleep, like many will this weekend, creates an undying anger.
Titan Casket, based in Methuen, Massachusetts, is doing something about it. In a now-viral ad, the company is pu…
High court considering whether not euthanizing terminally ill pet is a crime in Mass.
Massachusetts’ highest court is taking up a tricky legal case that could impact any pet owner.
The Supreme Judicial Court is considering whether or not failing to put down a dying pet should be a crime.
The case centers around a woman from Weymouth and her 14-year-old dog, Tipper. Mary Ann Russo said she took her dog to an animal hospital twice back in 2020 after discovering he had a large tumor, but instead of following a veterinarian’s recommendation to euthanize the dog, she took him home.
“I said I would handle it, but I want my Tipper to be home for a little bit, just to enjoy life for a little bit,” Russo said. “I wanted him to at least have his loving family around him, not laying on a cold table among strangers.”
Russo said the dog was recovering at home, but the veterinarian filed a complaint with the Animal Rescue League. When officers then came to check on the dog at home, they said he was barely breathing.
They ultimately obtained a warrant to euthanize the dog.
“We were getting his leg strong, and then they just took him and euthanized him. It was horrible,” Russo said.
Prosecutors said Tipper was in pain beyond control, arguing that Russo knowingly allowed it to continue. They also said Russo did not take the proper steps to alleviate the pain.
“While death is inevitable for all living creatures, suffering and pain is not,” Assistant District Attorney Tracey Cusick told the court at a hearing this week.
After the criminal complaint was thrown out by a lower court and an appeals court, it is now up to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to decide if the case will go to trial. The justices have to decide if Russo willfully subjected her dog to unnecessary suffering by not putting him down.
“Don’t you need us to interpret ‘willful’ that she has to intend the suffering as the statute says?” Justice Scott Kafker asked during the hearing.
The court has taken the case under advisement. It is unclear when it will issue a ruling. If it decides the case can go to trial, Massachusetts would become the first state in the nation where failing to euthanize a terminally ill pet constitutes animal cruelty.
Russo could face jail time if that happens, but she is hopeful the court will see she is an animal lover, not an abuser.
“I know I’m doing the correct thing for Tipper and all of the animals like him, because I should’ve been notified. I should’ve had a say in this whole process,” Russo said.
New laundry service available at Lowell middle school
A new initiative in a Lowell, Massachusetts, middle school hopes to not only address the needs of their most vulnerable community but to also teach them important life skills.
Butler Middle School is now offering a student-run laundromat service i…
On black bear expedition with gov., experts say population in Mass. is thriving
Massachusetts’ black bear population is healthy and thriving according to wildlife experts.
“We’re kind of still experiencing the long-term expansion of our bear population from our remnant population in the Berkshires that has slowly grown and expanded to much of the state now,” said Dave Wattles of MassWildlife.
Gov. Maura Healey was in western Massachusetts Friday with her family as wildlife experts checked on a family of black bears in the woods of Palmer.
The mother bear was tranquilized after she was found in her den with three cubs. Massachusetts has as many as 5,000 black bears.
“It’s super cool to be here and to be welcoming the newest resident Massachusetts, or one of them anyway,” the governor said, holding a young male cub. “We hope he sticks around.”
The state has been monitoring black bears for 40 years. Females are tracked with collars to better understand and manage the population, which is thriving. The cubs were born in January. They’ll spend the next year with their mother, hibernate with her next winter and then they’ll be off on their own.
”It’s like odd that I’m holding one. I never pictured myself doing that,” one young girl said of the cub she had was holding her jacket.
Before they were returned to their den, all the bears were weighed. The cubs are about 6 lbs; the mother more than 200. They’re not as big as the animals that live closer to urban areas, where they’re attracted by other food sources.
”If you care about these bears, take down your birdfeeders, don’t provide foods for them, let them live on natural foods,” Wattles said.
The bears around the state are just waking up from hibernation, but the experts say they’re more active this year because of the warmer weather.
