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.

Under the provisions of Congo’s law, the municipal court shall declare the dog vicious if it finds that the dog “beyond a reasonable doubt” killed or caused serious bodily injury to a person and “poses a continuing or future serious threat of serious bodily injury or death to a person."  So in other words, the burden of proof in these proceedings will be changed to the highest burden of proof that is only used in criminal prosecutions.  Practically speaking, how can a judge determine “beyond a reasonable doubt” if the dog poses a future serious threat of serious bodily injury or death?   Yes, believe it or not these are some of the amendments that are actually in the bill. 

It is the existing laws that are codified in N.J.S.A. 4:19-17. et seq. that already require certain procedures to be followed by animal control officers and municipal courts after a dog bite attack occurs in order to determine whether or not the dog shall be deemed vicious or potentially dangerous that need to be better enforced. I find that often times after a dog bite attack, the victim and the community’s right to be safe are too often overlooked and the vicious or potentially dangerous dog is returned back to the owner only to hold the community and the victim hostage. All too often, the same dog is a recidivist which results in another future attack or attacks.  Now we have created more victim’s whose attacks could have been easily prevented had the law been properly enforced.

 The goal of amending the current laws to more clearly define the burden of proof by the municipal courts to demonstrate the dog wasn’t provoked makes sense however; Congo’s Law goes too far by placing future human life and liberty at risk of harm.  Maybe the only good to come out of Congo’s repeated attacks is that it will raise awareness to the public of the importance of strict enforcement of the procedural requirements by our municipal officials of the current dog bite laws.
       

As a New Jersey dog bite lawyer, I can say that many of my clients have been attacked by pit-bulls or mixed breeds that likely had some pit bull in them.  However, the attacks also occur from a multitude of breeds and mixed breeds. The leading studies also reinforce this data. 

It has been my experience that the more severe dog bite victims often endure severe puncture wounds, bone crushing or bone piercing injuries of the face, arms, head, legs or other body parts.  Unfortunately, often times it is not just the physical scarring that will endure but the emotional scarring that may have an even more detrimental permanent effect on the victim.    This may occur when the victim of a severe and brutal dog bite attack suffers emotional trauma in the form of post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. 

The victims of severe dog bite attacks experiencing PTSD may lose the ability to cope with normal everyday situations.  For example; the victim may avoid many social situations for fear that a dog could be around.  Even a small non threatening dog could produce a tremendous amount of fear and anxiety to someone suffering from PTSD as a result of a dog attack.    This can be extremely debilitating and life altering.  The most severely affected dog bite victims will actually lose their freedom to just go for a simple walk around their neighborhood for fear of experiencing the horror once again. They relive the attack in their minds and something that may have lasted only a few seconds will seem like the longest moments of their lives. These victims endure their own “Vietnam War”. The PTSD can produce severe changes in the victim’s personality that may destroy their relationships and can even lead to the total breakdown of the family unit. 

After a severe dog bite attack if the victim begins to experience any of the above symptoms, receiving a proper diagnosis by a competent mental health professional is extremely important.  While ongoing long term psychotherapy may work well for some individuals, for others it is just too stressful and anxiety producing to re-enter the darkest and scariest moments of his or her life.       

Keep an eye out for future posts on this blog where I plan on revealing the problems with the laws in the state of New Jersey as they relate to the procedures that are to be taken by the authorities after a dog bite attack. My opinions are based on my experiences in representing victims of dog bite attacks in places like Paterson and Freehold as well as counties such as Bergen, Monmouth, Middlesex, Passaic and Ocean Counties.