Norwich — State Agricultural Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky has upheld a dog destruction order on two pit bulls allegedly involved in a vicious attack on two young children and their grandmother in October 2013 that have been held in city custody at the Norwich dog pound since that time.

“I have read the entire record in this matter,” Reviczky wrote in his Aug. 5 ruling released to the public Thursday afternoon. “Upon due consideration of the entire record, I find there is substantial evidence in the record to affirm the Disposal Order and I hereby adopt the November 20, 2014 Proposed Decision of the hearing officer in its entirety as the final decision in this matter.”

Pit bulls Skyler, now about 7 years old, and her daughter, Dolly, now 3, have been held at the city dog pound in Mohegan Park with minimal human interaction since the attack occurred on Oct. 8, 2013. 

City Animal Control Officer Michele Lombardi issued the destruction order for both dogs Oct. 15, 2013, after a police investigation into the attack.

Owner Sheri Speer appealed the order to the state Department of Agriculture, claiming her dogs were secured at the time of the attack and city official ignored evidence that other pit bulls roam the Talman Street neighborhood where the attack occurred.

Department of Agriculture hearing officer Dr. Bruce Sherman issued an 18-page ruling Nov. 20, 2014, recommending Reviczky affirm the city’s destruction order. Speer had asked the commissioner to reverse the ruling.

Reviczky held oral arguments in the appeal July 29, and wrote a one-page ruling Aug. 5. Department spokesman Steven Jensen said the ruling could not be released to the public before all parties were notified of the decision.

Speer has 45 days from the Aug. 5 ruling to appeal to Connecticut Superior Court, Jensen said.

Speer and her attorney, Edward Bona, could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Norwich Police Chief Louis Fusaro said he was pleased with the ruling. Fusaro said he could not recall any other time when dogs were held in the city's custody for so long.

“That was one of those vicious incidents,” Fusaro said. “Those decisions are always hard to make, to order euthanizing of animals, but at some point in time, it's the right thing to do in some circumstances for the safety of the public.”

The city has paid for the upkeep of the dogs since they were taken into custody.

Lombardi said both dogs have suffered from the long confinement and are getting worse. The older dog, Skyler, "is just crushed," acting depressed and uninterested. The younger dog, Dolly became psychotic after a year in captivity, and is worse now. She is very aggressive toward anyone who doesn't have regular feeding contact with her and toward other dogs coming through the kennel area.

The dog pound's volunteer coordinator has taken an interest in the dogs and gives them regular treats and attention, but Lombardi limits any personal contact for safety reasons. She said Speer has visited the pound only once, about six months after the dogs were taken into custody.

According to the police record and testimony at the Aug. 25, 2014, Department of Agriculture hearing before hearing officer Sherman, the attack occurred on the afternoon of Oct. 8, when grandmother Lisa Hall was escorting her three young grandchildren from their home at 123 Talman St. — a rental house owned by Speer — to the Bishop School playground.

When the family walked along the street in front of 151 Talman St., Speer’s home, two large pit bulls charged from the yard.

One dog attacked the baby stroller carrying then-9-month-old Marquice Downing, knocking the stroller over and causing a minor bite wound on the baby’s forehead.

The baby’s sister, Marlena Downing, then almost 5, stuck her arm out to protect the baby. The dog latched onto her arm, shaking it, tearing flesh and breaking her arm. Photos of the girl's red and purple bruised and swelled arm were shown at the hearing.

Hall kicked at the dog, and a passerby who stopped to help grabbed a stick and struck the dog. At one point, the dog bit Hall’s leg.

While the attack occurred, Marlena’s twin sister, Audrena Downing, ran screaming from the scene toward her home. The second dog chased her.

She banged on the door of another tenant in the house, and the woman let the child enter. She hid behind the couch until police arrived.

Police investigated and took testimony from witnesses and a maintenance worker, Carlos Rivera, working at Speer's home and took the dogs into custody.

Lombardi said the two dogs are so similar in appearance that witnesses could not determine which dog attacked Hall and the two children and which dog chased the third child.

Police said both dogs behaved extremely aggressively as they were taken to the pound that night. Lombardi issued the destruction order on both dogs.

Speer was charged with two counts each of allowing dogs to roam, having nuisance, vicious dogs and unlicensed dogs and one count of failure to vaccinate against rabies. The older dog, Skyler, was not vaccinated.

Speer pleaded guilty to all charges in Superior Court and paid a fine, but during the dog destruction appeal she and attorney Bona contended that Speer attempted to plead under the Alford Doctrine, under which she would have disagreed with the allegations but pleaded to avoid a trial.

However, the state did not allow the Alford Doctrine plea, and Speer pleaded guilty to the charges.

In his decision, Sherman said there was “ample evidence” supporting the city’s claim that Speer’s dogs attacked the family, including Speer’s guilty plea.

He said testimony by maintenance worker Rivera was contradictory. Witnesses said Rivera made statements the day of the attack and the following day, apologizing to the family and telling the family that he thought it was Skyler who bit the children and grandmother.

At the appeal hearing, Rivera denied those claims and only said he was sorry in general that the children and grandmother were hurt.

In his three-page appeal of Sherman’s recommended decision, Bona said there were deficiencies in the hearing officer’s report, including omitting that Speer had asked to enter an Alford Doctrine plea.

Bona also contended that the city and the proposed decision ignored the possibility that other dogs in the neighborhood could have attacked the family.

He said the state risked acting on a rule of thumb to “simply execute the first dogs in sight whenever an attack occurs,” allowing the actual offending dog to “roam free.”

c.bessette@theday.com

Twitter: @Bessettetheday