Patriotism over Pain

Dog bite doesn’t keep Board of Selectmen Chair Panetta from participating in town’s annual Memorial Day parade

By Mark E. Vogler

After a dog bit her on the right hand at Veterans Park last Saturday morning, Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta didn’t get to walk in this year’s Memorial Day Parade with her fellow selectmen. “Yes, I always walk. I lost so much blood, and I was lightheaded, so I was afraid to walk,” Panetta said in an interview last weekend.

“They wanted to rush me to the emergency room by ambulance, but I wanted to participate in the parade. I never missed a Memorial Day parade. It is important to show your respect to the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for us to have the freedoms that we enjoy today,” she said.

Determined to participate in the parade, Panetta got a ride to the staging area at Anna Parker Field on Essex Street instead of going right to the hospital for medical attention. Once at the staging area, she walked around until she found a ride. Members of the Parson Roby Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) had room for her in their float.

“I appreciated that the DAR let me sit in the float this year,” Panetta said.

Panetta went to Riverside Cemetery for the annual Memorial Day observance after the parade had ended. When Panetta finally did go to the hospital, she received a “ridiculously painful” tetanus shot. Medical staff bandaged up the wound and prescribed some medicines for the pain.

Panetta said she doesn’t know how many Memorial Day parades she has marched in over the years, but doesn’t recall ever missing any. “Even when my son was a Boy Scout, I used to march in the parades with him,” she said.

“I marched in the parades when I was on the School Committee. I marched in all the parades as a selectman. So I really can’t count,” Panetta said.

Panetta was greeting people at Veterans Park on Saturday morning at the time of the dog attack. She happened to notice a handsome black lab in the crowd. “The owner was sitting in a foldable chair,” Panetta recalled.

“The black lab was by his side. When I walked by, I said ‘what a nice dog.’ He stood up for me to pet him, and when I did go to pet him, he bit me,” she said.

It wasn’t initially clear to bystanders at the park what had happened. Some observers said they thought Panetta had dropped her cell phone on the sidewalk. “At first, we didn’t know what happened,” said Clark Moulaison, a studio associate at SaugusTV.

Panetta stood close to the black lab, holding her hand. Then Moulaison noticed blood spots sprayed on the sidewalk. “All of a sudden, we saw her hand bleeding and we rushed over to try to help. We tried to stop the bleeding,” Moulaison said.

Joe Matterazzo, from the staff of AM radio station WMEX from Quincy, joined Moulaison in assisting Panetta until medical staff arrived. Saugus police arrived and took a report of the incident.

Panetta said she doesn’t know the dog’s owner, but has been reassured that the animal has had its shots and is properly licensed.

Panetta feels comfortable around dogs – “I am a huge dog lover. I have two large huskies.”

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