...and the owner should be banned from having pets for at least a few years. I am sorry, but this guy with the pits has been in trouble before. AND he has been convicted of animal abuse. He probably made these dogs mean.
Joel Harden, the Devon resident whose pit bulls attacked his neighbor and killed the neighbor's dog earlier this year, was found guilty in district court of harboring dangerous dogs.Harden did nothing to defend himself from this ruling and made it clear that he will file an appeal in the Common Pleas Court.
Just before the hearing, Harden and the defense agreed to a stipulated-fact trial. This means both parties agreed on a set of facts to present to the judge, making it unnecessary to call witnesses. Many witnesses, however, were present.
Brett Bailey, one of the plaintiffs, said he was irritated that Harden did not want to go through with a standard trial.....He probably hopes that everyone here will forget and lose interest," said Kim Bailey, the other plaintiff, who is married to Brett Bailey. "But we will make sure this does not happen."
Harden, through a spokesman, said his lawyers advised him not to comment.
Magisterial District Judge Sandra Walsh ordered Harden to pay a fine of $300 for each of five dog-related offenses. In addition, she ordered him to register his dogs with the state as dangerous dogs.
Four of the five charges stem from an incident that happened on June 8, when the dogs, Bones and Mama, got free from the backyard where they are kept.
While roaming the neighborhood, they approached Brett Bailey, who was walking his 13-year-old dog, Molly. They attacked Molly, and when Bailey tried to defend her, they started biting him.
Molly died later that night of a spinal-cord injury. The fifth charge came from Harden's failure, on Aug. 9, to follow an order issued by the Tredyffrin Police Department that Bones and Mama be properly contained at all times.
This is not the first time Harden has been charged with dog-related offenses. In 2007, he was found guilty of failing to keep his dogs contained and confined properly.
He pleaded guilty to animal abuse in 2004, and between 2004 and 2005 he was issued a string of dog nuisance violations.
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Technorati
While the owner gets no sympathy from me, I see his dogs as victims. Dogs don't get violent like this unless they are trained to be this way or the owner does not raise them with and provide them with the proper discipline from a training standpoint.
I think owners who either train or allow their dogs to become this violent should have to forfit ownership. If people are willing to take these dogs in (not as a pair) and properly train and nurture them I think that is the way to go.
Obviously it would be hard to find people to take one of these dogs in, but I do think their behavior can be modified. You can teach old dogs new tricks.
- Login or register to post comments
permalink