Salvatore Pizzo Jr. is charged with being the owner of a dangerous animal that caused injury, allowing an animal to stray and being the owner of an unlicensed animal. The first charge is a possible 4-year felony.
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| Paytan Wiersum sits on her family's front porch Aug. 2, a day after being attacked by a dog.. |
Prosecutors offered to dismiss the second two charges in exchange for a guilty plea to the felony.
Pizzo's attorney, Jessica Kuipers said she expects the case to go to trial.
Paytan Wiersum was playing in her family's front yard off Plainfield Avenue when two dogs approached from down the street, her father, Aaron Wiersum, said in August.
One of the dogs, later identified as Pizzo's canine, Lucky, jumped on her and began to bite, the father said. That biting continued as Paytan lay on the ground in an attempt to cover her face.
She was eventually treated and released from the hospital.
Pizzo at the time apologized to the Wiersum family but told an MLive reporter that neighbors had "made a bunch of stuff up" about his dog.
The dog, Lucky, remains in quarantine at the Kent County Animal Shelter. Pizzo was ordered to pay the shelter $17 a day one month ahead of time until trial.
(The Grand Rapids Press - Nov 22, 2012)
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