Congo's Law As Introduced Would Further Endanger New Jersey Communities
Okay now I am enraged. I just watched an interview on News 12 with Congo’s owner, Guy James and he stated that the reason why he put his dogs down is because he knows the statute and that he would not want to put his dogs or his family through this when the dogs would have to be destroyed anyway. What about his concern for his mother-in-law, a 75 year old woman who endured massive amounts puncture wounds and lacerations this past Tuesday?. What about the safety of his family and the rest of the local community? In a separate interview, Mr. James stated that this time the dogs merely “jumped” on the victim when she opened the door to go outside without realizing that the dogs were outside. In the first dog bite attack back in November 2007, thousands were in support of Congo surviving dog death row if in fact Congo was provoked by its victim. This seemed to make perfect sense to me. The Municipal Court Judge declared Congo vicious notwithstanding the apparent fact that Congo’s attack seemed to be provoked by the actions of its victim. This inflamed the conscious of thousands of dog and animal lovers. So much so that rallies were organized under the theme of “save Congo”. Additionally, over 10,000 pleas were sent to Governor Corzine to spare Congo’s life. Then the Superior Court of New Jersey reversed the Municipal Court ruling and allowed Congo to go home. While I do not have the transcript of the Superior Court’s decision, I assume that it was decided on the basis that the municipality failed to prove that the dog was not provoked as required by N.J.S.A. 4:19-22 Out of these highly publicized, emotionally charged events a bill was introduced in the NJ Assembly in December 2007 as No. 4597 sponsored by Assemblyman Neil Cohen with the intent of revising the vicious and potentially dangerous dog law; designated as Congo’s Law.
Of course when a highly publicized incident occurs, legislative officials often take swift action to introduce legislation that will attempt to minimize or avoid the likelihood of the same type of events occurring in the future. This undertaking may be borne out of a genuine concern for doing what an individual believes is the right thing to do or may be the result of political pressures or a combination of the two. Unfortunately, portions of “Congo’s Law” would likely, in my humble opinion, place New Jerseyans in actual danger of additional vicious dog bite attacks while sparing the lives of dogs that have already attacked persons that resulted in serious bodily injury or even death. Now don’t get me wrong, I want to be clear that I am a dog and animal lover. I believe wholeheartedly that animals should never be abused for purposes of someone’s warped entertainment and any individual intentionally abusing an animal should be fully prosecuted under animal cruelty laws. However, common sense mandates that if a domestic animal attacks a human being resulting in serious bodily injury or death, now we put the risk of harming persons above the value of the animal’s life. We cannot put the safety of our children or our loved ones at risk of physical harm in order to preserve the highest burdens of proof. Most rational persons would agree that to grant animals the same rights as our citizens is purely absurd. Believe it or not, this in essence is what certain provisions of the Congo Law would require if enacted. For example, under the current law if after an attack the dog is declared vicious by a municipal court judge, meaning it killed a person or caused serious bodily injury then the dog shall be destroyed in a humane manner. See N.J.S.A. 4:19-22. The Congo law would allow the municipal judge discretion in allowing the dog to return home even if an attack occurred resulting in serious bodily injury or death and where it found that the dog is declared vicious. Then the court would require its owner to obtain a special municipal vicious dog license, orange identification tag, a municipal registration number, and maintain liability insurance.