At a regularly scheduled Blue Earth City Council meeting on Monday, March 7, at 5 p.m., emotions ran high while the council conducted a public hearing.

The hearing was in response to an incident which occurred in Blue Earth on Monday, Feb. 21, when a dog owned by Kandi Widger attacked the two-year-old son of Cody Leschefske and Widger’s niece, Larissa Diaz.

The attack occurred in Widger’s home while she was caring for Diaz’s children.

In a written report, Blue Earth police chief Tom Fletcher summarized the incident according to Amy Diaz, Larissa Diaz’s mother.

“According to Widger, (the boy) was tormenting their dog the previous night. All the children, Widger, the dog and a cat all slept in the same bed,” Fletcher related.

“When (the boy) had woken up, he jumped out of the bed, at which time the dog had gotten out of the bed and attacked him,” he continued.

Fletcher described the boy’s injuries following the attack. He was missing part of his left nostril, his lip was punctured and he had a wound to his right eye.

City administrator Mary Kennedy also showed pictures of the boy’s injuries to the council, first warning that the images were graphic.

Larissa Diaz, who was present at the public hearing on March 7, said her son is still recovering from the incident.

“We go back for surgery tomorrow,” she said. “We have to remove a stent from his eye. We’re not sure what we’re going to do with his nose yet – there is a chunk missing. We could put stitches in, but it would close up the nostril.” 

“After what happened, he’s absolutely terrified,” Diaz added. “We have a dog, and we had to remove it from our residence. He’s starting to get really nervous and anxious even around cats.” 

Upon Fletcher’s recommendation, the city had declared the dog a dangerous animal on Feb. 22, citing that it, without provocation, inflicted substantial bodily harm on a human being on private property.

Minnesota State Statute clarifies a dangerous dog may be destroyed in a proper and humane manner by the animal control authority under circumstances such as these.

On Feb. 25, Widger had requested a hearing concerning the seizure, dangerous declaration and disposition of the dog.

At the March 7 hearing, Widger contested the dog’s designation as dangerous, arguing it had not attacked without provocation.

“Kandi (Widger) said that the night before, the boy was chasing after the dog and messing with the dog, and the dog attacked as provocation,” Fletcher related.

Fletcher then cited Minnesota Statute 347.50, which defines provocation as “an act that an adult could reasonably expect may cause a dog to attack or bite.”

Fletcher suggested that a two-year-old boy could not provoke a dog according to the definition.

City attorney David Frundt agreed, adding, “A child can’t provoke an animal. They don’t have the mental maturity to know what they’re doing.”

Widger responded, “She (the dog) has never done anything to anybody besides bark, then back away. She’s never shown signs of aggression.” 

Widger added, “He (the boy) was messing with her when he shouldn’t have, and that’s all it took, I guess.”  

Mayor Rick Scholtes reminded the council the primary decision they faced was whether the dangerous dog designation should be upheld.

“There are two parts to a dangerous designation,” Scholtes clarified. “Provocation and bodily harm.”

The city had already cited the dog for inflicting substantial bodily harm in the Dangerous Dog Declaration signed on Feb. 22, and the nature of the boy’s injuries was not contested by the council or public.

The council also determined the boy’s actions could not be classified as provocation due to his young age.

Based upon this decision, the council voted unanimously to designate the dog as dangerous.

Scholtes then shared that a notice for the destruction of the dog was sent to Widger via mail on Feb. 23, and received no response. Scholtes said this meant the dog would need to be taken to the vet and put to sleep.

“I never got anything in the mail, all I got was a violation,” Widger countered.

City administrator Mary Kennedy noted, however, that Fletcher and Frundt had both been copied on the notice and had received it.

With a unanimous vote, the council blocked Widger’s ability to appeal the designation and the dog’s imminent destruction.

“I don’t see the outcome being any different,” council member Ann Hanna said before making the motion.

“We’ve determined that this dog needs to be put to sleep because we feel no matter what happens, we still feel a risk to the residents of Blue Earth,” Scholtes explained.

He added, “We can’t give back to that little boy what was taken away from him.” 

In other business, the Blue Earth City Council:

• Heard the 2021 Library Annual Report in a 4:30 p.m. work session.

Blue Earth Community Library and Fossil Discovery Center director Eva Gaydon shared circulation is going up, and she is still delivering books to residents and facilitating curb-side pickup.

Gaydon also shared updates about new developments at the library, including its growing collection of fossils and a planned banner display on its outside wall.

• Conducted a first reading of an ordinance releasing the city’s right of reversion on Main Street properties previously sold to Project 3 Sisters, LLC.  

• Passed an ordinance conveying four vacant city-owned lots to the HRA for the price of $4.

• Passed an ordinance conveying three city-owned parcels north of the west branch of the Blue Earth River to Lisa Lindberg and Steven Kittelson for the price of $30,000.

• Approved the Blue Earth Fire Department to allocate $202,627 in funds from their capital expense budget to purchase new turnout gear.

• Unanimously passed a motion establishing Blue Earth’s precinct boundaries for the purpose of elections. The boundaries of Ward One, Ward Two and Ward Three will all remain the same.

• Unanimously approved a change to the city’s Personnel Policy regarding employees’ vacation accrual.

• Unanimously approved Kennedy to submit an application to the Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance Program sponsored by the National Park Service.

The program would assist the city of Blue Earth in developing a master plan for its local parks.