A case of mistaken dog identity

Dogs roaming Birch Hill are not the boxers that allegedly attacked a jogger in December

It was a case of mistaken identity, according to Conway police who were toned out Monday to the Birch Hill neighborhood after reports that the boxers that allegedly attacked a jogger in late December were back roaming the area."It's not true about the boxers," Lt. Joe Faia, of Conway Police Department, said Tuesday. "We received reports and we investigated them by sending an unmarked and a marked police cruiser into the neighborhood to canvas the area. We even checked the residence it's a case of mistaken identity. A dog may have been running through the neighborhood, but it wasn't the dogs in question. That would have been alarming."On Dec. 26, two boxers belonging to Hope Galton, 38, of Concord, Mass., allegedly attacked a jogger in North Conway, biting her on the back of her legs and her back before she could escape into a nearby home. By the time police officers returned to the scene of the attack to apprehend the dogs, they were nowhere to be found. Galton appeared in Northern Carroll County earlier this month, pleading not guilty to reckless conduct. She was released on $1,000 cash bail and the condition of good behavior. She is not allowed contact with witnesses to the incident, nor is she permitted to bring boxers Madison and Winston to Conway on the day of the March 2 trial. If found guilty, Galton could be fined up to $2,000 and sentenced to the House of Correction for up to one year. She could also be ordered to pay the victim's medical expenses and damages. The fate of Winston and Madison has not yet been decided. "It's really a question of the dogs' dispositions," explained Conway Police Department Prosecutor Chris Perley. "If they are determined to be dangerous dogs, I think we will have to look at whether sanctions against them are reasonable or not."Police allege that Galton "recklessly engaged in conduct by allowing her dogs to run free, having been made aware previously that they are aggressive toward people, which placed or may have placed another in danger of serious bodily injuries."