Section 137C: Inspection of kennels; revocation, suspension and reinstatement of license; nuisance
Section 137C. The mayor of a city, the selectmen of a town, the police commissioner in the city of Boston, a chief of police or an animal control officer may at any time inspect a kennel or cause the inspection of a kennel. If, in the judgment of such person or body, the kennel is not being maintained in a sanitary and humane manner or if records are not properly kept as required by law, such person or body shall, by order, revoke or suspend the license for the kennel. Upon the petition of 25 citizens, filed with the mayor of a city, the selectmen of a town or the police commissioner in the city of Boston setting forth a statement that such citizens are aggrieved or annoyed to an unreasonable extent by a dog maintained in such city or town due to excessive barking or other conditions connected with a kennel constituting a nuisance, the mayor, selectmen or police commissioner, as the case may be, shall, within 7 days after the filing of the petition, give notice to all parties in interest of a public hearing to be held within 14 days after the date of such notice. The mayor, selectmen or police commissioner shall, within 7 days after the public hearing, investigate or cause to be investigated the subject matter of the petition and shall, by order, either suspend or revoke the kennel license, otherwise regulate the kennel or dismiss the petition. Written notice of an order revoking or suspending the license, regulating the kennel or dismissing the petition shall be mailed immediately to the officer issuing the license and to the holder of the license. Within 10 days after the order, the holder of the license may bring a petition in the district court within the judicial district in which the kennel is maintained, addressed to the justice of the court, praying that the order be reviewed by the court. After notice to all parties as the court may consider necessary, the court shall review the action, hear the witnesses and affirm the order unless it shall appear that it was made without proper cause or in bad faith, in which case the order shall be reversed. The decision of the court shall be final and conclusive upon the parties. A person maintaining a kennel after the license to maintain a kennel has been so revoked, or while such a license is suspended, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 for a first offense and a fine of not more than $1,000 for a second or subsequent offense.