Barnegat resident Anthony Sammarco Sr., 40, who was sentenced in 1999 for setting three fires in the township the previous year, and Sean Thomas of New York City were charged Monday by the Burlington County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for shooting a pit bull named Boss, according to the humane society's website.
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| Anthony Sammarco Sr |
The pit bull was shot by Thomas, who is charged by the SPCA with six different counts of animal cruelty, according to Sgt. Joshua Long of the BCSPCA. The State Police charged Sammarco Sr. on Monday with possession of a handgun, possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose and being a certain person not to possess a handgun, said State Trooper Alina Spies.
State Police also charged Sammarco Sr.'s son, Anthony Sammarco Jr., and his son's girlfriend, Alexis Abbato, with hindering the investigation, Spies said.
Sammarco Sr. was released from the Burlington County jail after posting bond on Tuesday, according to the jail website.
Sammarco Sr. had confessed he broke into a Schooner Avenue home in Barnegat and set a fire there on Feb. 8, 1998. Sammarco, then a lieutenant with the Barnegat Volunteer Fire Company Station 11, admitted telling an arson investigator that another lieutenant in his fire company could be responsible for the blaze.
Sammarco Sr. also told the judge that he set a forest fire near Lower Shore Road on Feb. 27, 1998, and a forest fire near Rosehill Road on March 31, 1998. He tried to implicate a passer-by in the fire near Rosehill Road.
On Tuesday night, Sammarco Sr. contacted the Asbury Park Press to tell his side of the story. He said he never intended to have the dog shot.
"He (Sean Thomas) was supposed to take care of this dog. He (Sean Thomas) was supposed to be a pit bull expert and instead, he shot my dog. I never held the dog down. Do you really think a pit bull will allow you to hold it down? Why would I sit there holding down a dog with a gun?" Sammarco Sr. said.
Sammarco Sr. said he got the dog, named Sonny, from a friend in Edison about five years ago. He had asked Thomas to train the dog because it had bitten him, his son and grandfather.
Sammarco Sr. said he gave the dog to Thomas to train on March 6. He said he learned the dog was shot a couple days later.
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| Anthony Sammarco Jr |
"Sean is supposed to be a pit bull expert. He has several pit bulls," Sammarco Sr. said.
Law enforcement officers tell a different story about the shooting.
Long said they intended to kill the animal because it had bitten someone and the owner, Sammarco Sr., wanted to have it put down.
The pit bull was discovered by Shawn Kemple and Dallas McGarrisk, a Tuckerton couple who were driving down Route 9. The couple rescued the animal, believing it was struck by a car, and took it to the veterinary hospital in Stafford.
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| Alexis Abbato |
On March 14, Sammarco Jr., 20, of Little Egg Harbor, and his girlfriend Abbato, 22, of Barnegat were questioned by authorities in the investigation after they came forward to claim the dog, Spies said.
State Police charged Sammarco Jr. and Abbato with hindering the investigation, Spies said. Sammarco Jr. was released after posting $2,000 bail and Abbato was released on a summons.
As for Boss, "he is doing a lot better and working with a trainer," Long said. "He was very cheerful last time I saw him."
The couple who rescued the pit bull have expressed interest in adopting the dog, Long said.
Janice Achey, spokeswoman for the Stafford Veterinary Hospital, did not return calls Tuesday for comment.
(app.com - May 20, 2014)
They should have killed it at least.
ReplyDeleteI totally believe that they shot it because it was vicious.