The owner of one of several dogs accused of attacking animals and menacing people in Hamlet has been cited for having a dangerous dog under state law.
    Hitchcock County Sheriff Tom Dow said Brian Wagner, 42, Hamlet, received the citation in connection with as many as four different incidents, two in the summer of 2019 and possibly two last summer.
    The citation came after Hamlet residents attended a Village Board meeting to complain that a pack of pit bulls or pit bull mixes have been roaming the village, killing animals and menacing residents.
    Dow said he met with the board and took statements from several residents about the attacks. The dogs apparently are owned by four different people in town. He is still gathering statements, and at least one more person may be cited, he said.
    Village Clerk San-D Nolte said the latest attack occurred after that meeting attended by about a dozen Hamlet residents. They said a pack of dogs, pit bulls or pit bull crosses, had recently killed seven goats from one herd, a chicken, a cat and a chihuahua in town and had menaced residents, although no humans had been attacked.
    Sometime after that meeting, “there was an attack by at least three of the dogs on two other male dogs in town,” Nolte said. “Both of those dogs were in really bad shape. That was witnessed by a couple of people.”
    Dow said he is awaiting a report on that incident.
    Hamlet has its own dangerous dog ordinance, but because it has no contract with the Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement, Dow issued the citation under state law.

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