Would You Kill this Dog? Rallying for the ‘Defense’ after a Dog Bite Injury

May 16th, 2013. By AbiK

A death sentence for a 7-year old Sheltie is causing a stir in upstate New York—so much so that there’s a Facebook page dedicated to getting a stay of execution for the pup. What’s interesting in this case, too, is that normally we hear of dog bite injury lawyers representing the dog bite victim; this time, the attorney is representing the dog owner.

Back on March 27th, Natalie Beratta’s dog, Jack (at left), bit her four-year-old granddaughter in the cheek. There were no witnesses to the attack except for the little girl—and she needed four stitches to close the wound. According to the “Help Save Jack” Facebook page, the cheek bite was Jack’s first offense (though one news report does quote Beratta referring to the dog as “nippy”; ok, a lot of dogs are “nippy”).

Hard to know what happened—some surmise the child may have startled or provoked the dog in some way. That we’ll never know. But the series of events that followed the dog bite injury have created a groundswell of support for the dog and his owners—including the sale of t-shirts that read, “I’ve got Jack’s back”.

So how did a dog who’s been described as “friendly” and “gentle” come to be on death row?

It all started with a 911 call.

Once Beratta’s daughter, the child’s mother, called 911, and the little girl was taken to the hospital where she was treated. The 911 call apparently resulted in the animal control officer, Nick Morosco, being notified, which then resulted in Jack winding up at the Steven Swans Humane Society where he was to be quarantined, by law, for ten days.

But things didn’t stop there.

The next stop was New Hartford (NY) Town Court. Beratta, according to the Facebook page, thought she was heading to court because Jack had not been licensed (note to dog owners—get your dog licensed, it’s the law), however, the license was the least of her worries. Rather, Judge James Van Slyke ruled that the dog should be put to death. The judge’s decision was in accordance with what NY law stipulates–that any domestic animal determined to be “dangerous” be euthanized.

Needless to say, the ruling came as a bit of a shock to Beratta and her family.

The family is now appealing the judge’s decision—which otherwise would’ve had Jack put down on April 6th. Until the appeal of the case is heard, Jack remains at Stevens Swan Humane Society, which WIBX950.com reports is costing the family $40 per day—and Jack may need to stay at the shelter for up to sixty days until the appeal is heard.

Given that the family didn’t have an attorney–why would they have thought they needed one?—and given the now costly and time-consuming position they now find themselves in in order to try and appeal the judge’s decision, what happened next is interesting.

According to the Facebook page, a New York attorney—who is only referred to as “Louis”—has taken on Jack’s case pro bono. Here is an excerpt from the Facebook page:

“An attorney by the name of Louis, read the article which was posted by Dana on the WKTV’s Facebook page and offered his services Pro-bono. Louis currently lives in NYC, but is originally from this area..and he obviously has a love for dogs!! He is a very busy man but has taken his time to help us with this case.”

Mind you, Beratta is just trying to keep Jack alive—she isn’t wanting to bring him back home and risk any other possible incidents. In fact, according to WKTV, Beratta has found a home for him in a neighboring county.

“They’re older people,” Beratta told WKTV. “They don’t have any children and we made the arrangement to have him go there and we can see the dog whenever we want. So it’s a safe situation for everybody. He’s a wonderful pet, a wonderful pet. I mean, he’s been in our family. He’s our family member.”

While Beratta awaits the appeal decision, local supporters of Jack have also created a petition at change.org.

 

Tags: Dog Bite Injury, Dog Bite Lawyer, Euthanasia, Jack, Natalie Beratta, New Hartford NY, Save Jack

This was posted on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Emerging Issues, Personal Injury . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.