judge orders GSD destroyed - Page 1

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Judge orders shepherd destroyed after vicious attack Thursday, November 08, 2007

BY LINDA STEIN PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- A family whose beloved German shepherd faces death for having led a dog attack on a landscaper is devastated by the news but vows to continue to fight to save him.

..."He's innocent. He did nothing more than protect my wife. He never bit anyone until she was grabbed and pulled to the ground," James said.

Congo has been ruled vicious by a municipal judge and ordered put down.

...The landscaper, Giovanni Rivera, has won a $250,000 insurance settlement as a result of serious injuries he sustained in the attack, which occurred when he and others disobeyed instructions from James not to get out of their car until Congo and several other dogs on the property could be sequestered for safety.

..James, who was about to take a shower, called out a window to them in Spanish, telling them to get back in their car and wait because the dogs were in the backyard being fed.

...Instead, Rivera and another worker got out of the car after a few minutes and the dogs began to bark. That worker began to hit the dogs with a metal rake and Elizabeth James, Guy James' wife, yelled for him to stop. Meanwhile, Rivera, who was afraid of the dogs, grabbed her from behind and pulled her to the ground, causing her to scream. At that point Congo began to bite and scratch Rivera and some of the puppies joined in.

http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1194498519125940.xml&coll=5&thispage=1

New Jersey again. Typical...

SS

This is scary.  The man throws the woman to the ground and the attack is not provoked?

First of all, why did their insurance company pay his expenses??? He was at fault, he was told to stay in the car.  Why would they attack an animal after being warned to stay away? Then why would he push this woman to the ground? Sounds like the family's attorney did not do his job.  This whole thing makes no sense.  Has logic escaped everyone or does anyone else see these inconsistencies?

For the same reason burglers have gotten money from a homeowners policy for injuries obtained while breaking into a house........

 Fight the judges order, if the dog gets putdown by the judges order, let the same fate befall the judge.   

I hate to be the one that says this but  That is what you get when you hirer people that don't understand english and respect our ways of doing things/laws.

Yes, the dog will be put down reguadless of how many people names or on  the form due to the insurance company already paid.

Sad really cause the dog was doing his job.  What the wife should of done is counter sued his a$$.

This could of been avoided 

Hirer people that understand what you are saying.-spend the extra $$

Have your dog obedience trained

and last but not least  BE able to handle/controll your dog.

I can't read the whole thing (you have to register, ggrrrr), but in any case from the 1st part I really don't know what to think.

Yes, the dog was likely only acting naturally to what he perceived as an "aggressive" act against "his property".  But, the way the owner wanted them to stay in the car until the dogs were all "under control" - that could easily be seen as meaning they don't trust the dogs not to "attack", and thus are untrustworthy and over-sensitive dogs.  The judge could view it that way.

As for why he hit the dogs and threw down the woman?  He was irrationally scared $!$@#less; haven't you seen such people who go nutso when a "scary" dog is around?  People do crazy things when they're, well, crazy - in this case, with fear.  The guy probably irrationally thought the dogs were "scary" and started hitting at them in self-defense and using the woman as self-defense (or getting her out of the way).

I'm really unsure about this.  While I think the landscapers acted foolishly, I can't help but wonder if this or those dogs were a bit "oversensitive".

(Which ironically is exactly what I worried about with aggression-based breeding in the breed all along.)

Maybe they were just doing their basic job of "just barking" before the fools acted like fools, but I can't say for sure here.

While agree about hiring non-English speaking workers, that doesn't seem to have been the problem as the husband comunicated with them in Spanish - and they STILL didn't listen. 

Hopefully, this dog will NOT be put down.  There are many parties now involved in trying to save this dog and reverse this judges wrong decision.

There was really no way for this to be avoided.  They came onto the property when they weren't suppose to be there.  The dogs HAD been obedience trained, and the husband WAS able to call his dogs off - very difficult under the circumstances.  I know many police dogs are difficult to call off when they are in fight drive AND when there is more than one dog involved.

These dogs were provoked.  They had not only the right, but the responsibility to defend themselves, their puppies, and their family. 

I can't imagine my dogs not doing the same.  Maybe some timid American Shepherds might run away............OK, now I'm just poking fun and trying to start a riot............

Yeah EK! I agree