Framingham School Committee Member in The Middle of Dog Fight

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FRAMINGHAM – A Framingham School Committee member said his mental health is suffering as his tenant, who lives in the basement of his house, has just too many dogs.

District 9 School Committee member William LaBarge speaking at a Board of Health meeting Monday night said the battle over the dogs even escalated into police arresting him and his tenant Ken Colley.

The Framingham Board of Health, down a member, voted unanimously last night 2-0 to deny a kennel permit to Colley, who has at least 8 dogs and has been breeding dogs for a couple of years.

Labarge told SOURCE this morning that he met Colley online and in 2013, he agreed to let him move in “rent free” into his basement.

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Labarge said he had come for a visit a year earlier from Virginia, and that Colley gave him “90 minutes notice he was showing up” and moving in back in 2013.

Labarge and his husband Jerry Ferrazza, who owns the property at 11 East Street, were okay with a couple of dogs, but not how many there are now.

Labarge said Colley “would have been homeless” if we didn’t let him move in.

Labarge said when Colley first arrived he had one dog.

“I was fine with one dog,” said Labarge. “Two dogs was okay, but three was pushing it.”

Last night Colley told the Board of Health he had 8 to 9 dogs. The dogs were loud and barking during the Zoom meeting.

Labarge said the three dogs were bad but everything got worse when Colley decided he was going to breed the dogs around 2019. Not just one litter of puppies but two litter of puppies, said Labarge.

“All of sudden two of them (dogs) are pregnant, despite assurances he gave us that he knew how to keep that from happening,” said Labarge. “When they got pregnant, that is when our life turned upside down.”

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Labarge said the dogs and the puppies kept getting lose and animal control got involved. He said once he talked to animal control about all the dogs, and he realized that Colley needed a license for a kennel and he did not have one.

“I informed animal control we have multiple dogs,” said Labarge. “We wanted the dogs out.”

At one point in the Board of Health meeting last night, Colley accused Labarge of kidnapping two of his puppies.

Labarge said he told Colley he wanted the dogs out.

“I gave two of the puppies away,” said Labarge.

Labarge said that Colley was not charging for the puppies, and was giving them away, and since he and his husband wanted the dogs out of the house, he gave away two of them.

“I just wanted them out of my house,” said Labarge.

“He demanded I get them back,” said Labarge.

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Colley told the Board of Health that he is selling the puppies for $700 and that Labarge “kidnapped” those two, and he has lost $1,400.

Labarge said Colley did not start selling the puppies until the second litter was born in May.

At one point between 2019 and now, the battle over the dogs escalated to police officers at 11 East Street and arrests.

Labarge said he was charged with domestic assault & battery, and that Colley was charged with domestic assault & battery, assault and battery on an individual over age 60, and assault and battery on an individual with a disability.

The arrests did not appear in the public police log, as they were both charged with domestic assaults. Under state law, domestic assaults do not appear in the log. Police determined it was a domestic as both individuals live in the same “household.” The only relationship is landlord and tenant.

Labarge said his he was released on his own recognizance and walked home from the Framingham Police station. he said Colley was in jail for a few days and that he and his husband bailed him out on Saturday evening as he had “no money.”

Labarge said the charge against him was dismissed.

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Labarge said Colley is still not paying rent and he would prefer to “evict him.”

He told the Board of health last night “I want the dogs G-O-N-E, gone!”

This morning Labarge told Source “I do not wish to have a pack of dogs in my house. It has been horrible for me.”

Labarge said the City should help to enforce the kennel and dog laws and have the dogs removed from his house.

The City has denied the kennel license, and the Board of health upheld that decision in an unanimous vote last night.

Colley told the Board of Health he adopted Shoeshine after the dog was nearly killed by a coal truck in Kentucky.

The other dogs are Bear, Duke, a Great Pyrenees.

Labarge said in 2019, Colley added Charlotte and Fiona, and started breeding.

There were six puppies born and then four puppies arrived, but then Fiona’s lost three puppies, and Labarge gave away two puppies.

At one point during the meeting last night, the Animal Control Officer Kathy MacKenzie was asked to give her report.

She accused Colley of inbreeding the puppies.

Colley said that was a lie and that Officer Mackenzie hated him.

Colley told the Board of Health and Officer MacKenzie “Go to hell! F#*& all of you!” and then left the Zoom meeting.