In response to the June 4 attack by Harley the Rottweiler on Rambo the terrier, township Animal Control Officer Meredith Petrillo filed three complaints against Harley’s owner, Debbie Testa, that charge running at large, being a “potentially dangerous” dog, and being unlicensed.
A hearing on whether Harley, a 3-year-old female who weighs 88 pounds, meets a legal definition of being potentially dangerous and
therefore subject to rigid restrictions was scheduled to occur Thursday before Municipal Court Judge Gerard F. Smith. Both Testa, terrier’s owner, Ruth Welt, and other witnesses were present.
Testa, who said she didn’t have the chance or funds to hire an attorney, told the judge she wasn’t prepared but Smith — who advised he has the power to euthanize her dog — ordered her to contact a lawyer with whom she was in contact.
Though the judge said he has the power to order the dog’s death, the township is not currently seeking that penalty.
That lawyer — self-professed animal lover Curtis J. La Forge — rushed to Denville, where he was granted a postponement of a trial until next Thursday by the judge and Municipal Prosecutor James LaSala.
“I don’t want Harley deemed dangerous. She’s not a killing machine. This is a tragedy. My dog is a loving dog. She’s our family pet. She’s our savior,” Testa said in an interview at town hall. Testa has two daughters, age 8 and 13.
Testa adopted the Rottweiler in November from Eleventh Hour Rescue of Randolph, which saves dogs from out-of-state that are slated to be euthanized. Testa acknowledged that Eleventh Hour Rescue informed her that the Rottweiler had bit another dog in Georgia. Petrillo, who will be a chief witness at next week’s trial, confirmed that Harley has a behavioral history but declined to discuss it until she testifies. She said that to her knowledge, Harley has not injured a human being.
Welt, 72, who bought the Yorkie 13 years ago as a birthday gift for her physicist husband, Martin, now 81, has a different perspective of Harley and she believes that Testa is not a responsible dog owner. The Testas and Welts are next-door neighbors on Rocky Heights Road.
“I’ll be afraid to walk in the street if the dog is still around. I can’t get another pet. My dog deserved to die of old age at home, not in pain and terror,” Ruth Welt said. “The dog has a rap sheet. She attacked another dog.”
Testa alleges that Ruth Welt “tormented” her dog the past few months by shining a flashlight in her windows so that Harley worked herself into a frenzy following the light from room to room. Welt called the accusation bizarre and said she shone a flashlight at the Testa home once around 11 p.m. on June 3 — the day before the attack — because she was walking her Yorkie, Rambo, in the dark and could hear Harley snarling from a window at her and her pet.
Ruth Welt said she was outdoors with Rambo on a leash around 9 a.m. June 4 and speaking on the street by her home to a neighbor who was in his vehicle. Without warning, she said, Harley appeared, clamped her jaws around the mid-section of Rambo and ran off with the terrier, who was quickly found deceased in Testa’s yard. While Welt and the neighbor rushed Rambo to a veterinarian’s office, police and Petrillo arrived on the scene.
Petrillo said Harley was spotted trotting up the street and she willingly got into the animal control vehicle. Harley was impounded overnight and then returned to Debbie Testa. However, an agreement was reached Thursday for Harley to be impounded again by the township until the outcome of the trial next Thursday.
Testa said she wants to clear her dog’s name because she believes Harley was only protecting the household.
“I would never have guessed the dog would jump out a window that was open a little bit,” Testa said.
If the judge next week determines that Harley is “potentially dangerous” and might attack a domestic animal again without provocation, the law calls for strict conditions to be imposed which include erection of a high fence, muzzling of the animal out in public, and a special license.
Welt, 72, who bought the Yorkie 13 years ago as a birthday gift for her physicist husband, Martin, now 81, has a different perspective of Harley and she believes that Testa is not a responsible dog owner. The Testas and Welts are next-door neighbors on Rocky Heights Road.
“I’ll be afraid to walk in the street if the dog is still around. I can’t get another pet. My dog deserved to die of old age at home, not in pain and terror,” Ruth Welt said. “The dog has a rap sheet. She attacked another dog.”
Testa alleges that Ruth Welt “tormented” her dog the past few months by shining a flashlight in her windows so that Harley worked herself into a frenzy following the light from room to room. Welt called the accusation bizarre and said she shone a flashlight at the Testa home once around 11 p.m. on June 3 — the day before the attack — because she was walking her Yorkie, Rambo, in the dark and could hear Harley snarling from a window at her and her pet.
Ruth Welt said she was outdoors with Rambo on a leash around 9 a.m. June 4 and speaking on the street by her home to a neighbor who was in his vehicle. Without warning, she said, Harley appeared, clamped her jaws around the mid-section of Rambo and ran off with the terrier, who was quickly found deceased in Testa’s yard. While Welt and the neighbor rushed Rambo to a veterinarian’s office, police and Petrillo arrived on the scene.
Petrillo said Harley was spotted trotting up the street and she willingly got into the animal control vehicle. Harley was impounded overnight and then returned to Debbie Testa. However, an agreement was reached Thursday for Harley to be impounded again by the township until the outcome of the trial next Thursday.
Testa said she wants to clear her dog’s name because she believes Harley was only protecting the household.
“I would never have guessed the dog would jump out a window that was open a little bit,” Testa said.
If the judge next week determines that Harley is “potentially dangerous” and might attack a domestic animal again without provocation, the law calls for strict conditions to be imposed which include erection of a high fence, muzzling of the animal out in public, and a special license.
(Asbury Park Press - Jun. 13, 2013)
