Jefferson Township Municipal Prosecutor James LaSala made an offer to Gary and Susan Kolb to have dogs Jumba and Imani sent to an out-of-state rescue facility Thursday before Judge William Bowkley at the municipal building.
As part of the deal, the Kolbs would also be on the hook for more than $10,000 in housing costs the township has already incurred since seizing the mastiff-type dogs in October 2011 when the 100-pound dogs were allegedly found being walked without muzzles, violating a consent order.
In an email early Friday morning, Susan Kolb said the pair shouldn't lose the dogs and since they hadn't yet been convicted of violating the consent order.
"How does Jefferson Township have the right to override every other Court system especially when we have done nothing but cooperate with every aspect of fulfilling our agreements," Susan Kolb said in the email.
And in a separate, earlier email, Susan Kolb said: "The charges against us are false and we will go to Trial to prove our innocence and bring our loving dogs back home."
LaSala had agreed give the couple until Oct. 11 to consider the agreement, which, if denied, means the Kolbs would go to trial and face the possible euthanasia of the dogs.
A defiant Kolb said outside the courtroom Thursday night the dogs weren't dangerous.
"They're not fighting dogs," she said. "They're pedigree dogs."
The dogs knocked down a woman holding her 6-year-old grandchild in 2008 and, just months later in 2009, bit a man in the groin and another man in the arm, the Jersey Journal reported at the time.
Susan Kolb stopped the euthanization of the dogs in May 2009, telling a court they would be relocated to California. But the dogs were found in January 2011 in their Jersey City home.
A Hudson County Superior Court judge sentenced Susan Kolb to two years' probation last year for contempt of court for not moving the dogs. Yet the Kolbs were able to save the dogs again, promising to move them from Jersey City and to follow certain rules, such as muzzling the animals when outside their home.
But a Morris County Grand jury indicted the couple in April for contempt of court for failing to muzzle their dogs in Jefferson, where they have lived for about a year. The pair could face a state prison bid of up to 18 months if convicted, the Jersey Journal reported at the time. The Kolbs pleaded not guilty.
LaSala said he agreed to give the Kolbs a week to consider the offer because of "the emotional difficulties they have accepting this decision."
LaSala also said after talking with the Jefferson animal control officer and other township authorities he doubted the dogs could be trained to make them less dangerous.
"I understand the feelings these people have for their dogs," LaSala said, "but I'm also extremely convinced that they are not in a position to ever receive these dogs back."
Susan Kolb said in the email the dogs were bought from a Boerboel breeder in South Africa. She also said in the email the dogs are "bred to protect children from the lions on plantations" and that the family spends time training the dogs every day.
"They are defending dogs," Susan Kolb said in the email, "not fighting or attack dogs."
(nj.com - Oct 5, 2012)
