Post by pinky on Jun 26, 2008 23:21:33 GMT -4
I think this reader comment speaks the truth.
" How is justice served when dogs die for the ignorance and arrogance of their keepers? Guy and Elizabeth James never cared enough for the welfare of dogs to teach then how to live in human society. Don't judge the dogs. No one knows how they would have done if they were properly raised and trained. "
In brief: Congo and the other dogs attacked Elizabeth James's mother, leaving her with broken bones and many wounds. Guy James then euthanized the four dogs.
<<PRINCETON — The owner of Congo, the German shepherd whose attack on a landscape worker last year set off a cause celebre, said Thursday that he had the dog —and three others— euthanized early Wednesday to deny authorities “the pleasure” of doing so after the animals were implicated in a second attack the day before.
Guy James, who with his wife Elizabeth fought a months-long court battle to save Congo following the June 2007 incident, disputed official accounts of the new incident, in which police said Congo and three other German shepherds attacked Mrs. James’ mother at the couple’s Princeton Township residence Tuesday.
Rejecting the conclusions of police and the township’s animal control officer, Mr. James said injuries sustained by his mother-in-law, 75-year-old Constance Ladd, were caused when the dogs “playfully” jumped on the woman causing their paws to puncture “her thin skin” as the woman attempted to exit the James’ Stuart Road West home.
”This was not a vicious attack,” Mr. James said. He attributed Mrs. Ladd’s injuries, which included a fractured hip and another broken bone, to his wife’s intervention during the incident, saying that she had caused her mother to fall while trying to push her away from the dogs.
But according to police and Princeton Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson, the wounds sustained by Ms. Ladd on her head, arm, and chest appeared to have been caused by bites from one, if not all of the dogs.
Police came to those conclusions despite the fact that during treatment at the residence and the University Medical Center at Princeton, Ms. Ladd refused to confirm or deny that the dogs had indeed bitten her.
Further, Ms. Ladd was uncooperative and did not allow investigators to photograph her wounds, police said.
But investigators were eventually able to take photographs of the wounds while Ms. Ladd remained at the hospital, after they secured a court order from a Superior Court judge Tuesday.
”She (Mrs. Ladd) stated the dogs did not bite her, but the pictures proved otherwise,” Mr. Johnson said.
Mr. James said the family eventually made the ultimate decision to put the animals down out of concern for the future treatment of the animals.
”We didn’t want the dogs locked up for seven, eight or nine months,” said Mr. James. “Rather than giving Mark Johnson the pleasure of putting the dogs down, I took them to the vet.”
Following the euthanization, Mr. James informed township authorities that he had taken the four involved in the incident dogs — Congo, Lucia, Hunter, and Bear — to the Princeton Veterinary Hospital, where they were euthanized.
Congo had already faced death last year after he was singled out for destruction for the mauling of a man doing landscape work around the James’ residence.
A court settlement reached between the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and lawyers for the James family allowed Congo to live, following a national showing of public support for the dog.
Four other dogs owned by the James family, along with Congo, were involved in the attack on Giovanni Rivera, 43, of Trenton. The court settlement required numerous restrictions be placed on the dogs for the rest of their lives. The dogs were required to wear a muzzle when out of their enclosure on the James’ property, and the owners were required to notify township animal control personnel in the event of an escape, or another attack.
Former Princeton Township Prosecutor Kim Otis prosecuted the case against the James family and Congo in municipal court and successfully argued that Congo be euthanized.
The other four dogs involved in the attack were also to be declared “potentially dangerous” and subject to numerous stipulations.
Reached by telephone Thursday, Mr. Otis said that the incident was indeed tragic.
”But I am not surprised it happened, and I think people have some soul-searching to do, a lot of people,” said Mr. Otis. “Something like this tends to bring out a lot of big talk from people who don’t really know what was going on.”
He added: “At the end of the trial the judge found that Congo fit the definition of vicious, and that verdict should have been respected. Instead a lot of people who had their own agenda without the facts made a lot of statements.”
Kevin Riechelson, the attorney who represented Mr. Rivera after the June 2007 attack, was quoted in Thursday’s Star-Ledger as saying, “I don’t want to be one of those people who said I told you so, but I think my client’s version of what happened was sort of borne out by another unprovoked attack. It’s a shame it had to come to this.”>>
" How is justice served when dogs die for the ignorance and arrogance of their keepers? Guy and Elizabeth James never cared enough for the welfare of dogs to teach then how to live in human society. Don't judge the dogs. No one knows how they would have done if they were properly raised and trained. "
In brief: Congo and the other dogs attacked Elizabeth James's mother, leaving her with broken bones and many wounds. Guy James then euthanized the four dogs.
<<PRINCETON — The owner of Congo, the German shepherd whose attack on a landscape worker last year set off a cause celebre, said Thursday that he had the dog —and three others— euthanized early Wednesday to deny authorities “the pleasure” of doing so after the animals were implicated in a second attack the day before.
Guy James, who with his wife Elizabeth fought a months-long court battle to save Congo following the June 2007 incident, disputed official accounts of the new incident, in which police said Congo and three other German shepherds attacked Mrs. James’ mother at the couple’s Princeton Township residence Tuesday.
Rejecting the conclusions of police and the township’s animal control officer, Mr. James said injuries sustained by his mother-in-law, 75-year-old Constance Ladd, were caused when the dogs “playfully” jumped on the woman causing their paws to puncture “her thin skin” as the woman attempted to exit the James’ Stuart Road West home.
”This was not a vicious attack,” Mr. James said. He attributed Mrs. Ladd’s injuries, which included a fractured hip and another broken bone, to his wife’s intervention during the incident, saying that she had caused her mother to fall while trying to push her away from the dogs.
But according to police and Princeton Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson, the wounds sustained by Ms. Ladd on her head, arm, and chest appeared to have been caused by bites from one, if not all of the dogs.
Police came to those conclusions despite the fact that during treatment at the residence and the University Medical Center at Princeton, Ms. Ladd refused to confirm or deny that the dogs had indeed bitten her.
Further, Ms. Ladd was uncooperative and did not allow investigators to photograph her wounds, police said.
But investigators were eventually able to take photographs of the wounds while Ms. Ladd remained at the hospital, after they secured a court order from a Superior Court judge Tuesday.
”She (Mrs. Ladd) stated the dogs did not bite her, but the pictures proved otherwise,” Mr. Johnson said.
Mr. James said the family eventually made the ultimate decision to put the animals down out of concern for the future treatment of the animals.
”We didn’t want the dogs locked up for seven, eight or nine months,” said Mr. James. “Rather than giving Mark Johnson the pleasure of putting the dogs down, I took them to the vet.”
Following the euthanization, Mr. James informed township authorities that he had taken the four involved in the incident dogs — Congo, Lucia, Hunter, and Bear — to the Princeton Veterinary Hospital, where they were euthanized.
Congo had already faced death last year after he was singled out for destruction for the mauling of a man doing landscape work around the James’ residence.
A court settlement reached between the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and lawyers for the James family allowed Congo to live, following a national showing of public support for the dog.
Four other dogs owned by the James family, along with Congo, were involved in the attack on Giovanni Rivera, 43, of Trenton. The court settlement required numerous restrictions be placed on the dogs for the rest of their lives. The dogs were required to wear a muzzle when out of their enclosure on the James’ property, and the owners were required to notify township animal control personnel in the event of an escape, or another attack.
Former Princeton Township Prosecutor Kim Otis prosecuted the case against the James family and Congo in municipal court and successfully argued that Congo be euthanized.
The other four dogs involved in the attack were also to be declared “potentially dangerous” and subject to numerous stipulations.
Reached by telephone Thursday, Mr. Otis said that the incident was indeed tragic.
”But I am not surprised it happened, and I think people have some soul-searching to do, a lot of people,” said Mr. Otis. “Something like this tends to bring out a lot of big talk from people who don’t really know what was going on.”
He added: “At the end of the trial the judge found that Congo fit the definition of vicious, and that verdict should have been respected. Instead a lot of people who had their own agenda without the facts made a lot of statements.”
Kevin Riechelson, the attorney who represented Mr. Rivera after the June 2007 attack, was quoted in Thursday’s Star-Ledger as saying, “I don’t want to be one of those people who said I told you so, but I think my client’s version of what happened was sort of borne out by another unprovoked attack. It’s a shame it had to come to this.”>>
