Saving Congo

Friday November 9th
New Jersey 101.5FM Radio

In Princeton, New Jersey, a family dog, Congo, has been declared "vicious" by municipal Judge Russell Annich Jr. Because of this, he may be ordered put to sleep, this coming Tuesday.

His crime? A landscaper came onto the property of the dog's owner, Guy and Elizabeth James, after being told to wait. Congo and the family's other dogs started to bark. One of the landscapers' started hitting the dogs with a metal rake. Elizabeth James started to yell at him to stop. So, the landscaper grabbed Elizabeth, from behind, and pulled her to the ground.

Congo, thinking that his owner was being attacked, did what ANY good dog should do. He tried to protect his owner. The landscaper was bitten, and injured, as he should have been.

Now, for being a good dog, Congo might be put to sleep.

Should Congo be put to death for protecting his family?

Tuesday November 13th
The municipal judge in the Congo Case issued a decision declaring him vicious, which carries a mandatory death sentence. The attorney for Congo vowed to file an appeal of the municipal judge's decision, which will provide an automatic stay of execution while the appeal is pending.

Tuesday November 13th
WABC Eyewitness News

The case of Congo the dog is heading to a higher court. The German Shepherd faces death row for mauling a landscaper.

Dozens of Congo's supporters rallied outside a courthouse Tuesday, but it was not enough to save the pup.

This has become an incredibly emotionally charged case, and even the judge says his life has been disrupted by the phone calls, E-mails and letters he has received at both home and work regarding the fate of Congo.

Congo's life is on the line for mauling landscaper Giovanni Rivera last June. He suffered serious wounds. The family says Congo thought he was defending his family and that the dog was provoked. As such, they say he should've been given a second chance. Since the judge said no, the family is appealing.

The judge also denied the family's request for Congo to go home during the appeal. He has been in a shelter, the family says, not doing well.

About 200 supporters filled the courtroom and the courtyard in support of the James, who say the matter should not have gone this far.

Thursday November 15th
WABC Eyewitness News

Judge: Congo the dog can be released pending appeal.

A superior court judge has spared the life of a German Shepherd who was suppposed to be put to death.

Congo is accused of mauling a landscaper in Princeton, New Jersey, last June.

Congo's owners claim the dog was just trying to protect them, but a judge declared the dog was vicious.

But on Thursday afternoon, a judge ruled that congo can be released to his owner pending appeal of the sentence, on the condition that he is on a leash and muzzled whenever he is outside.

Congo has been imprisoned at a shelter for nearly 6 months.

Listen to Warren's interviews from The Pet Show
Saturday November 17th :

Congo's owner Guy James (KRLA870.com)

New Jersey Assemblyman Neil Cohen pledges legislation - "Congo's Law" (WOR710.com) ...more about this

Second interview with Guy James (WOR710.com)

CONGO TO GET HIS DAY IN STATE HOUSE
Sunday, November 18, 2007 The Trenton Times By Linda Stein

NJ - The Princeton Township dog- bite case that has tongues wagging around the country will be on the agenda of the state Legislature when a bill dubbed "Congo's Law" is expected to be introduced in the Assembly tomorrow.

Assemblyman Neil Cohen, D- Union, plans to introduce the bill, which is designed to change the laws regarding vicious dogs and address perceived flaws brought to light by the case.

Cohen, who has introduced a plethora of animal-related legislation, believes the current law is un fair and outdated. Some of the provisions in the proposed law will include a definition of provocation that will take into account the dog's point of view rather than the human's and also raise the standard for finding a dog vicious to be yond a reasonable doubt, the same standard now in use when humans are charged with a crime.

A lawyer for Congo's owners has argued that Congo, a 2 1/2-year-old German shepherd, was provoked when he led a dog attack and mauled a landscaper on June 5 at a house in Princeton Township. But the township prosecutor, the animal control officer and a municipal court judge say it was an unprovoked attack.

Landscaper Giovanni Rivera, who was hospitalized and underwent surgery for his wounds, received a $250,000 settlement from the residents' insurer, plus medical expenses.

"It certainly could be precedent-setting," said Robert Lytle, the lawyer for the Congo's owners, of the case.

Congo, one of six German shepherds owned by Guy and Elizabeth James, was ruled vicious by Municipal Court Judge Russell Annich Jr. and, if that ruling is upheld, must be put down. Annich stayed his decision pending an appeal to Superior Court.

A Superior Court judge Thursday allowed the dog to return to his home, pending appeal, with numerous restrictions in place, including that he wear a muzzle and be kept inside a fenced area.

Provocation will be the heart of the Superior Court appeal, Lytle said, arguing that Congo was provoked into attacking Rivera when Rivera grabbed Elizabeth James, causing her to scream.

Relying on testimony from an expert witness, a professor of veterinary science from the University of Pennsylvania, Lytle said the issue of provocation must be decided from the "perspective of a reasonably well-behaved dog."

He noted that none of the James family's six dogs had bitten anyone before, and he presented statements from people, including delivery drivers and tradesmen who have come in contact with the dogs, attesting to their gentle natures. He argued that the state failed to prove that Congo had been unprovoked.

Annich, the judge who presided at the two-day Municipal Court trial, said it was a difficult decision because no case law exists in New Jersey on the issue of provocation.

In his Oct. 30 opinion, Annich noted, "The statute does not define provocation and there is no helpful case law in New Jersey. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Rivera or anyone else on the scene in tended to provoke the dogs to at tack."

"The critical issue in the case was the question of provocation and it being a relatively recent law, there was no New Jersey case law that I could be guided by," Annich said in an interview. "So I looked at the legislative intent and out-of- state cases from Minnesota and Illinois."

Kim A. Otis, the prosecutor who handled the case for the township, agreed that provocation is "one of the big issues. There is no help (in the case law) on provocation. They argued it through the eyes of the dog and I argued through the eyes of a reasonable person. There are dogs that are bred and trained to attack. Let's say they breed a dog as part of its makeup to attack when they moved a hand very quickly. Nobody in their right mind would argue if a child went up to scratch its ear and was mauled to death that it was a reasonable provocation. My argument is, it must be from the standpoint of a reasonable person."

Among other things, the Congo bill would include a presumption against euthanasia.

The law also would be retroactive to all dogs now deemed vicious and facing death, including Congo, Cohen said.

"The nature of a dog is to protect those around them," Cohen said. Self-defense and the defense of others is a justification for human violence, and dogs should have the same protection, he said.

"Congo's situation points up the need to modernize the law and make it fair to the owners and the animals," Cohen said. Congo's plight was brought to his attention by a woman who read news reports about the dog and who called him, Cohen said.

"The nature of this is essentially a criminal case," Cohen said. "Everything should be beyond reasonable doubt."

The proposed bill would also do away with the tattooing provision for potentially dangerous dogs, which Cohen likened to a "scarlet A." And it would ensure families have access to dogs that are impounded.

Cohen, who owns a miniature schnauzer named Ginger, also recently introduced a bill to strengthen criminal penalties for dog fighting after charges were brought against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. That bill remains pending, he said.

Guy James, Congo's owner, welcomed the bill, saying, "If anything good comes out of this ordeal, Congo has not been locked up in vain. This law will protect any future cases like ours. We have been through hell and back in this horrific incident. Congo's law will be a reminder to us all that we should stand up for our rights and not roll over."

Gina Calogero, an Oradel lawyer who has handled several vicious dog cases in her career, agreed there are no in-state published opinions on the provocation issue.

"There is only one reported decision," she said. "It happens to be mine."

She said that case, regarding Splinter, a Saddlebrook dog, was eventually decided on "procedural issues," but provocation was also a factor.

"If a dog causes serious bodily injury, then it's declared vicious and euthanized," Calogero said. "It has to be an unprovoked attack and the state has to prove it. Under the circumstances of this (Congo) case, I think provocation was clear. Any dog will defend its owner from a perceived attack. The woman was grabbed. She screamed out loud. I think the dog was justified in perceiving that she was attacked even though that was not Mr. Rivera's intent. Dogs are conditioned to protect their family."

Although Splinter's designation was reduced from vicious to potentially dangerous on appeal, he did not live to come home and rejoin his family but died in the kennel while waiting for the owners to build a fence required by law.

As for the Congo case, she said, she hopes it will spur the Legislature to look at the law again. The law was last amended in 1994.

Lytle, meanwhile, filed a notice of appeal in Superior Court and will file a motion to stay the imposition of the potentially dangerous dog conditions imposed by Annich on the four other James dogs that were involved in the attack on Rivera.

Under the law, the family has 60 days to have the dogs tattooed, they must be fenced in, the family must notify the police if they escape or bite someone else and they must pay $700 per dog each year in licensing fees.

Isabelle Strauss, the lawyer who handled the case of Taro, the dog who was pardoned by then-Governor Christie Whitman in 1994, continues to handle animal cases.

Taro, an Akita, bit a 10-year-old girl in 1990 in Harworth in Bergen County. Animal lovers wrote letters to the governor on Taro's behalf.

"The law changed somewhat after Taro's case," Strauss said. "And in one significant aspect, it changed to provide that the state has the burden to prove that the dog was not provoked. From everything I've seen, the state did not meet its burden in the Congo case."

Some of the judges are reluctant to look at this from the animal's point of view Strauss said. "The comparison that I always give is: Someone walks into your house and means no ill and the dog bites them. Or a robber comes in and is bitten and the dog is declared a hero. The same dog has no way to tell which is which, so it makes no sense to interpret the statute from the person's point of view, but must be interpreted from the dog's. To interpret it any other way makes no sense," she said.

Cases like these are "all heart- wrenching and emotionally and financially draining," Strauss said.

"And some animal control officers try to prevail upon people to sign over their animals telling them how costly it can be and that they can't win. People are not aware they do have a right to present a defense," she said.

Otis offered a plea bargain to the James family to allow Congo to be labeled potentially dangerous rather than vicious, an offer he said was still on the table.

"Plea bargaining was not a choice but the lesser of two evils," said Guy James. "It's not the right message to send to the public." The family offered to comply with the requirements of the dangerous dog designation but without that label.

Update November 29th from Congo's owners
Currently Congo has been temporarily released back in the care of his owners pending an appeal of his death sentence.

Action is still urgently needed to save Congo's life.

Congo and his partner Lucia are so happy to be back together. I think the appeal could take months but we are optimistic. God willing, New Jersey Assemblyman Neil Cohen's proposal of Congo's Law will go through and that will be the first line of defense. We are still receiving mail and email from well wishers and supporters all around the globe! Thank you for all the support and we will keep you posted as we progress... Elizabeth James

Update December 19th from New Jersey Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen

COHEN PROPOSES 'CONGO'S BILL' TO SAVE LIFE OF DOG SENTENCED TO DEATH

  The New Jersey Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee today released legislation Assembly Deputy Speaker Neil M. Cohencrafted that would immediately change the state's vicious dog laws.
  The bill is part of ongoing efforts to save the life of Congo, a German shepherd that has fetched national media attentionafter being sentenced to death for mauling a landscaperin Princeton earlier this year.
  Cohen's bill would revise state animal control law provisions that are archaic and barbaric bymakingit more difficult to label a dog vicious or to put an animal down.
  "Congo's case underscoresthe need for the state to modernize the lawthat deals with dogattacks so it is fair for the owners and the animals," said Cohen (D-Union) ...read more

Update April 3rd 2008

CONGO'S OWNERS SETTLE SUIT OVER LANDSCAPER ATTACK

by Linda Stein/The Times New Jersey
Thursday April 03, 2008, 5:04 PM

The case of Congo, the most famous dog in New Jersey, settled with a whimper instead of a bark.

Guy and Elizabeth James, the Princeton Township couple whose German shepherd mauled a landscaper who came onto their property on June 5, 2007, agreed to a settlement with the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office one day before they were due in court for an appeal before Superior Court Judge Mitchel Ostrer.

Congo had faced death after he was declared a vicious dog by a Municipal Court judge last year. That ruling provoked an outcry from thousands of animal lovers and hundreds protested the dog's fate outside the municipal building.

The James family then appealed that ruling which included four of their other dogs, then six-month-old puppies, who joined in the attack. The other dogs had been labeled "potentially dangerous," which carried fines and penalties.

Under the agreement, the couple paid a fine of $50 per dog and pleaded guilty to a violation of a township ordinance, said their lawyer Robert Lytle. The James family will continue to keep the dogs behind a fence on their 10-acre property and warning signs will remain in place.

The charge of maintaining a vicious and potentially dangerous dog against Elizabeth James was dismissed.

In a written statement, Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Doris Galuchie said, "Our goal in this case, as it is in every case, is to do what is in the best interest of justice and community safety. In particular, our objective was to ensure that the community is protected from vicious or potentially dangerous dogs. We believe that the settlement achieves that purpose.

"In the event that we lost the appeal, the state would have no legal authority to impose any safety restrictions regarding the dogs. As the defendant is agreeing to all of the safety precautions enumerated in the Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act, we feel this resolution is the most prudent course of action."

Guy James said this result was the best outcome for his family, which prevents the possible euthanazaation of Congo, and one they had suggested all along.

"It was a good settlement for both parties," James said. "The township got their protection and we got what we wanted."

Update Wednesday June 18, 2008

Congo, 3 other dogs euthanized after another attack
Click Here For This Update

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