WHITMAN — With a necropsy scheduled next week, state and local officials are investigating the death of a German shepherd dog boarded over a weekend at Annie’s Clean Critters.

Animal Control, Whitman Police and the Animal Rescue League are investigating the death of the dog, named Maximus, owned by Abington resident Robert Foley.

The Board of Health is not involved in the investigation at this time, according to staff members there.

Foley stated in a memorial Facebook post about his dog that he was told by Annie’s Clean Critters owner Annie Brown Monday evening that the dog died of stomach bloat — after he had spent an entire day trying to contact someone at the business to pick up the dog after a weekend away with his family.

An official cause of death will be determined by the planned necropsy.

Foley wrote that he had gone to pick up Maximus at 10 a.m. Monday, but “there was not one person in the shop and they never returned voicemails, emails, or Facebook messages, only a sign on the empty store saying ‘will be back at 4.’” By 5:30 p.m., there was still no one there.

Foley said when he contacted an employee, they had Brown contact him and he was then told the dog had died between 3 and 5 p.m. He lamented that, in the time it took him to find someone at the shop, he could have taken Maximus to a vet where the dog could have had a “40- to 50-percent chance of survival.”

Foley also alleged that the business refused to show him a surveillance video of his dog’s stay. He said he had boarded his dog at Annie’s Clean Critters before and that “things seemed to go well,” which is why he tried them again.

Contacted by the Express Tuesday, Brown said she was “devastated for the family, but we have no comment at this time.”

Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton said he could not comment on an ongoing investigation, but confirmed humane authorities are investigating and had “taken action.”

According to published reports, Lt. Alan Borgal of the Animal Rescue League has inspected the business and found unsanitary conditions and a lack of shade at the Annie’s Clean Critters outdoor kennel.

Lt. Borgal did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Brown, whose business has operated for 14 years in Whitman has also been the East Bridgewater animal control officer for some 30 years.

“We have been made aware of an ongoing investigation in the neighboring town of Whitman involving a contractor of the town of East Bridgewater who provides animal control services,” East Bridgewater Police Chief Scott Allen said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “It is the procedure of our Police Department that we will not utilize these services pending the outcome of the investigation. The East Bridgewater Police Department is in contact with neighboring communities and law-enforcement agencies to provide animal control resources on a mutual aid basis in the interim.”

This is the second canine fatality at a Whitman pet care business this year. In May, a Bermese Mountain Dog named Bailey died after suffering seizures during a grooming visit at a Bedford Street business.

After the owners of that business had received threats, Whitman Police issued a press release on its determination that there had been no indication of abuse or neglect by that business.

“The rush to judgment and attacks directed at [the business] through social media as well as phone calls to the business is very disturbing,” the department stated at the time.

WHITMAN — They found little cause for elation in some of the dishes in “From Junk Food to Joy Food,” but are attracted to the possibilities ahead in “The Smitten Kitchen.”

Foodies and home cooks in the Whitman Public Library’s new Cookbook Club read, experiment with and prepare a recipe from a selected book to share and discuss at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month.

It’s already a big hit.

“I was talking with two of our patrons who love to cook, because we love to read cookbooks, and we all said, ‘Gee, wouldn’t it be great to have a cookbook club?’” said Library Technician Ellen Donaghey, who facilitates the group along with Library Director Andrea Rounds, who launched it. “We’ve had a good response from the beginning. You come when you want to, but everybody who comes usually signs up for the next month.”

So far there are three men who attend along with the growing number of female members.

The club has tried Food Network star Ree Drummond’s “Pioneer Woman” recipes and “Good Cheap Eats,” by Jessica Fisher.

“Drummond’s book was a really good one,” Donaghey said. “Everything was step-by-step.”

At each meeting, members vote from about five cookbooks for the next month’s selection. Place cards are made for the food table with the name of the dish and its cook. Door prizes of donated kitchen utensils are awarded each month.

“We have been very fortunate to have everything from soup to nuts,” Donaghey said. “It’s a banquet — so much fun.”

As July’s featured cook book was “From Junk Food to Joy Food: All the Foods You Love to Eat, Only Better,” by nutritionist Joy Bauer, the buffet table groaned under more than 20 dishes — from appetizers to desserts — designed as lower-calorie versions of popular recipes.

Healthier versions of deviled eggs — “Angel Eggs” using hummus instead of egg yolks and mayonnaise — potato salad bites and cole slaw started off, followed by cold sesame noodles, zucchini linguine with pesto, chicken cacciatore and classic chili and topped off with desserts such as Boston cream pie parfait, no-bake key lime pie, chocolate crunch bars and mini chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing.

“This cookbook has taught me that you don’t ‘healthify’ baked goods,” a home cook named Rachel, who loves baking, said. “If you’re going to have a cupcake, you might as well just have a cupcake and have a salad tomorrow.”

Another cook, named Hannah, agreed.

“I have a fundamental philosophical difference with this cookbook,” Hannah said. “I think that healthy ingredients can be good, but not when they are pretending to be not-healthy ingredients.”

She made avocado toast because she felt it was the only recipe that stood on its own and not, “Let’s take a recipe you love and take out everything you love about it.”

Rachel made both the “Joy” cupcake recipe and a regular one, because both she and her family were put off by the use of black beans in the cake and avocado in the icing. She found it tasted “OK,” but found the batter hard to work with and the icing …

“When you look at [the “Joy recipe] you’re going to say, ‘That’s vanilla icing?’ Because it’s kind of a funky color,” Rachel said. “It’s green because it’s avocado.”

Another cook put of by her recipe was Library Trustee Roberts Ellis Drews who said the Eggs Benedict was more difficult than it should have been. Others had better luck, or liked their recipe’s healthier ingredients, and club members shared their opinions and experiences as they sampled the dishes.

“I’m writing a book about everything that can go wrong with me testing these recipes,” Ellis Drews said with a laugh as she related the challenge in finding thick enough Canadian bacon and broiling without it and the tomatoes burning after the directed four minutes. She also found the yellow bell pepper, called for in the Hollandaise, sauce did not microwave or blend well.

“I blended the heck out of the thing,” she said. “After I was done, I had to put it through the strainer, because it wouldn’t mush and you’re supposed to liquefy it. Well, it wouldn’t liquefy, let me tell you.”

She did find the finished recipe delicious, though.

Donaghey, who made yummy chicken enchiladas, was less enthralled with the “super-sweet” chocolate peanut butter cups in which all one could taste was the ripe banana called for in the recipe. She did save the components of that recipe, however, as she felt the chocolate part made a good fudge sauce and the nut butter-banana combination might be good on toast.

The two cooks who prepared the cold sesame noodles had no complaints and said they might prepare it again. The Boston cream parfait, chili and chicken cacciatore were also big hits.

A member named Julie liked the chocolate crunch bark, but used Rice Krispies instead of puffed rice, which she had trouble finding in smaller packages.

Each participant received copies of all the recipes prepared for the session so they could try dishes they liked at home.

Next month they try and discuss recipes from Deb Perelman’s “The Smitten Kitchen: Recipes and Wisdom from an Obsessive Home Cook.” Billed as “fearless cooking from a tiny NYC kitchen,” the book by home cook, photographer and food blogger Perelman, “is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking.”

Register for participation at the circulation desk, or call 781-447-7613.

HANSON —  Selectmen voted Tuesday, July 19 to raise the pay for seasonal Recreation Commission employees at Camp Kiwanee and Cranberry Cove by $1 per hour during a Wage & Personnel Board meeting prior to the board’s meeting.

The raise brings entry-level gate attendants to 50 cents above the state minimum wage of $10 per hour. They had been earning $9.50 per hour.

Camp Kiwanee caretakers earning less than minimum wage were also raised to the $10 minimum rate. Selectmen said the commission should confer with the town administrator regarding future requests for caretaker raises.

Three members of the Recreation Commission — Susan Lonergan, James Hickey and Francis O’Kane — attended the meeting, but Hickey and O’Kane did not take part in the discussion, except to ask a few questions to selectmen through Lonergan, because their daughters work as Cranberry Cove lifeguards.

The raises increase the pay of lifeguards, water safety instructors and beach directors as well as caretakers. The allowable salary range runs from minimum wage to $18 per hour.

Lifeguards were earning between $11 and $13.50 per hour, depending on experience, with WSIs earning $13.50 and the beach director $16. All will receive a $1 an hour raise retroactive to July 1.

Lonergan noted youth employees at Cranberry Cove typically start out as gate attendants and, when they earn certifications as lifeguards, WSIs and, ultimately beach directors, salary rates go up. Hanson residents receive preference in the application process, she said.

“There was some discussion that you would offer them 2 percent and we would like to talk about a $1 an hour raise across the board,” Lonergan said. “I think it’s a way to thank them for coming back and being loyal employees and representing the town of Hanson well.”

Wage & Personnel Chairman Selectman Kenny Mitchell expressed concern that a $1 raise would not be fair as all other town employees received a 2-percent across-the-board increase. A 2-percent raise on an $11 per hour pay rate is just over 18 cents.  The raises will cost $2,400 for the season, with hours reduced after swimming lessons end next month.

“People who are under minimum wage should be brought up to minimum wage, at least,” Mitchell said. “As far as raises, I think we have to be consistent with every other town employee.”

Town Administrator Michael McCue agreed, saying it was not a question of dollars, but of fairness to other town employees.

Selectman Bruce Young pointed out that, as part-time, seasonal employees, the Recreation Commission employees at the beach are not comparable to other town employees.

“I see these as an exceptional type of position,” Young said. “They are strictly seasonal positions. … Their hours are limited, they don’t get any benefits, they make an hourly wage and pay taxes on it. They’re kids trying to earn extra income during the summer, so I don’t equate them with full-time employees who get benefits.”

Town employees receive group insurance and pension benefits as well as salaries, he said.

“These are hard-working kids, dedicated kids who take care of their certifications,” Young said. “I don’t have any problem giving them more than the 2 percent.”

Selectmen Chairman James McGahan agreed as did Selectman Don Howard. In the end, all five approved it.

Lonergan also noted that lifeguards must pay $350 for course work to keep current with certifications out of pocket and that they return to work there year after year. Only gate attendants are new employees.

Selectman Bill Scott had suggested the commission might also consider footing the bill for certification fees, but Lonergan said that was something that has always been required as part of the application process. However, at the suggestion of the Fire Department, the Recreation Commission is paying for waterfront certifications for lifeguards.

“[That] isn’t part of their Red Cross certification anymore, it’s just a pool kind of thing,” she said.

Last year there were 115 beach passes sold. This year there are 117, with lesson signups up 120 percent, according to Lonergan. Seasonal employee salaries are paid through proceeds from passes and lessons, not through town taxes.

Last June, the commission made $8,225 with $12,839 this June — an increase of 56 percent.

At McCue’s urging, selectmen also voted to bring two Council on Aging employees up to minimum wage who are now paid below that level, with Young casting a reluctant vote for it because he was not certain the board was permitted to do so at this time.

Scott advocated paying seniors working through the tax abatement program at minimum wage. McCue said it was possible, but the program caps how much can be paid them so it might affect the total numbers of hours they may work.