His verdict was made at a trial Sept. 26 in Lower Township Municipal Court. Gio had wandered into Kim Davis’ yard on Aug. 16 and killed her cat Maximus while Davis and her daughter watched, helpless to stop it.
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| Maxiumus' death means nothing to Judge F. Thomas Hillegass |
Judge F. Thomas Hillegass fined Raines $500 for a loose dog causing injury and $100 for having an unlicensed pet. The third and most serious ticket, for owning a potentially dangerous dog, was thrown out.
In a case such as this, the state bears the burden of proof. Municipal Court Prosecutor Ronald Gelzunas cited state statute 4:19-23 “Dog declared potentially dangerous; conditions” when presenting the state’s case against Raines. The statute reads:
“The municipal court shall declare a dog to be potentially dangerous if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the dog:
Caused bodily injury as defined in N.J.S.2C:11-1(a) to a person during an unprovoked attack, and poses a serious threat of bodily injury or death to a person or
Severely injured or killed another domestic animal, and either poses a threat of serious bodily injury or death to a person; or poses a threat of death to another domestic animal, or has been trained, tormented, badgered, baited or encouraged to engage in unprovoked attacks upon persons or domestic animals.”
Davis was the first to take the witness stand. She described an ordinary day that quickly turned tragic. On the morning of Aug. 16, Davis’ daughter spotted an unfamiliar white dog in their backyard. Davis went outside on the deck to check it out.
According to Davis, Gio spotted Maximus, who was sleeping on the ground by the back deck, and pounced on him. Before Maximus could escape, Gio grabbed the cat by the neck and violently shook him side to side. “The dog just didn’t stop,” said Davis. “I was screaming and hollering.”
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| The 'playful' killer pit bull. |
When Animal Control Officer Zachary Magnavita arrived he witnessed Gio jumping on a rabbit hutch in Davis’ yard. He also saw Maximus on the ground with puncture wounds to his neck. “You could definitely tell the cat was dead,” said Magnavita. He continued to tell the court that Gio appeared to be jumping on the cage in a “playful” manner. He said he then called the dog to him and Gio obeyed. At that time Magnavita slid a leash around Gio’s neck and led the dog back to his truck.
At first Magnavita could not determine Gio’s owner. It was only when he was back in his vehicle that he received a call from dispatch saying the dog belonged next door to Davis, a home owned by Michael Mattera. Magnavita met Mattera at his home and spoke with Raines on the phone before returning Gio to Mattera.
After Raines failed to submit the proper vaccination records, Gio was seized by Animal Control Officer Don Montgomery Sept. 1 and held at the Cape May County Animal Shelter until Sept. 12, the date Raines pled “not guilty” to the charges.
When rendering his decision, Hillegass said that part one of state statute 4:19-23 did not apply. Part two, however, did apply to Gio because he did, in fact, kill another domestic animal. But in order to be considered a “potentially dangerous” dog, the court must also be convinced that the dog poses a serious threat to persons or other domestic animals. On that section Hillegass sided with Gio. “It is clear that Giovanni caused it,” said Hillegass. “But I don’t think that Giovanni is, or should be declared, a potentially dangerous dog.”
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| The pittie owner blamed the victims for the attack saying Maximus provoked her dog and that the victim shouldn't have left their gate open which enabled her killer dog to enter their yard. |
Hillegass expressed his condolences to Davis and her daughter. “I understand. Your pets become like children,” he said. “And when they pass away it’s like losing a family member.”
Following the judge’s ruling, Raines said she felt relieved. “I feel awful for what happened to Maximus and it’s very tragic,” she said. “However, all animals are just that, animals. We spoke the truth and just tried to tell our side of the story. The judge and prosecutor ruled on the state law and Gio is not a threat by any means...
"People need to realize that pit bulls are loving family members too and prejudice is why they're targeted.”
Davis was disappointed in the judge’s decision and when asked for comment, she simply stated, “Maximus was playfully murdered.”
(Cape May County Herald - Sept 30, 2013)
Earlier:
since the dog was loose and trespassing, it doesn't matter what the cat did or didn't do. the ugly mutant and it's owner are 100% in the wrong.
ReplyDelete"playfully murdered". just sickening.
It might be explained to this judge that the cat did not "pass away." The cat was violently and mercilessly killed in the yard of the owner by a trespassing pit bull.
ReplyDeleteWow, this hits close to home, as my own dog (a hunting-lines Parson Russell Terrier) killed a cat in the UK in 2000. I knew he was cat-aggressive for four years, but it hadn't been an issue because I lived in a cat-free apartment and he was always leash walked or at a large, fenced rural dog park far from kitties. At that time, he was the #2 ranked PRT in obedience in America, a Purina & Hallmark Card model, and had more titles in more sports than any PRT in the world. He was also a therapy dog that made weekly visits to a nursing home.
ReplyDeleteWhile he was still in British quarantine, I discovered the lady next door to my fenced rental house had 4 indoor show cats, and also fed (neutered) strays in her back yard. All yards on the block had a 6' wooden privacy fence. While my dog was in quarantine, I buried chicken wire next to the fence around the whole yard, to prevent him from digging under it to get to the cats. I also shored up the entire fence, replacing boards and nailing others more securely.
On only his 3rd day out of quarantine, I put him into my ostensibly securely-fenced yard for about 30 minutes. When I went out to call him back in, he was missing. He had managed to scale the smooth, 6' wooden fence, despite being only 14" tall and weighing 14 lb... and having spent the last six months in a quarantine kennel (i.e., not in prime physical condition). To be continued...
(Cont. from previous)
ReplyDeleteI ran all over looking for him. Then I found him in the next-door neighbor's garage with two of the stray cats pinned on top of a refrigerator. Another cat (which turned out to be 15 years old) lay dead on the garage floor. There was no blood and no sign of a puncture wound, but it was obvious my dog had killed it, presumably by shaking and snapping the cat's neck.
I took the cat to my house so my neighbor wouldn't receive an awful shock upon seeing it. Then I knocked on her door and told her what had happened. She'd been napping and hadn't heard a thing. The cat was one that she had been feeding its entire life. I felt horrible and cried for weeks. I profusely apologized, and went out and spent a couple hundred pounds on items for her personal (indoor) cats. I also got a memorial tree for the dead cat and helped her bury it. My neighbor kept a stiff upper lip--typical British lady.
As it turned out, another dog in the UK had entered a house and killed a cat the same week, and that dog was ordered euthanized. There was huge support for that decision. So I was REALLY worried that my neighbor was going to call the police and have my dog impounded. Fortunately, she didn't, and the dog lived almost as long as the cat he had killed (14 1/2).
Having learned my lesson, the dog was under maximum security for the rest of his life. He was either fenced AND chained inside the fence; or he was in a tall fence with hot wires on it AND with an Invisible fence inside that AND wearing his Invisible fence collar. I buried hardware cloth for a couple of feet inside the fence(s), too.
The dog went on to compete successfully in several British sports, performed on TV, and was "Regional Therapy Dog of the Year," representing their national pet therapy group (PAT Dogs) at Crufts. He was so gentle with humans that we visited a very difficult type of unit that most therapy dog handlers can't handle--brain injury. He was regularly lifted up by his lip, by a fold of skin on his back, or by a toe, then shaken in the air by people who lost control of voluntary motor function. And he was NEVER at all aggressive, not a growl or a snap, in over 100 visits.
I wanted to tell this story, because I'm on the fence about whether dog-on-cat aggression merits a death sentence for a dog. Many breeds--not only pits--are cat aggressive. Many hunting-type dogs, even ones that live with cats at home, will chase and kill strange cats. I don't consider this to be particularly abnormal or anti-social behavior UNLIKE when dogs kill other dogs or humans. I consider cat-killing similarly to a dog killing a squirrel, a mole, or a groundhog. Or like a cat killing a songbird or a wild rabbit. It's not the nicest thing, and I'd prefer not to own a dog like that, but I wouldn't consider that the dog (or cat) should get the death penalty.
I'm saying this as a person who has a cat that has performed on national TV. I feel it is my responsibility to keep my cat indoors so HE doesn't kill wildlife, and so neighborhood dogs don't kill him. Lots of dogs find cats an attractive target, and they are not very sturdy or able to fight back.
Oh my god. The judge is lucky it wasn't my cat. If one of my neighbor's pitbulls gets in my fence and kills my cat.. I will be making lots of noise. This is so sick. Sad that dumb people without integrity can be positions to make decisions about justice.
ReplyDeletei'm not at all on the fence about this issue. any time any animal is killed by an off leash trespassing dog of any breed, i think the dog should die.
ReplyDelete