June 19, 2008

PRINCETON TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- “Congo,” the German Shepherd that gained international support when he was spared last April from a judge’s order of euthanization following a biting attack, was put down yesterday after being involved in another incident -- a decision made by the same owners who fought to save his life.

“We’re saddened, we’re grieving, it’s a hard thing to even think about,” a disraught Guy James, one of Congo's owners, told Pet Pulse of his dogs’ sudden demise. “I haven’t slept in two days.”

The shocking twist in Congo’s story follows an incident on Tuesday that occurred when Guy James and his wife, Elizabeth, were entertaining Elizabeth's mother, Constance Ladd, 75. Ladd was injured when Congo and three of the family’s other dogs inadvertently jumped on her, according to Guy James. Ladd opened a door to exit the Jameses house when the dogs rushed in, James says.

“They started jumping on her, no vicious manner, no barking, no growling,” James said. “It was just they were jumping. They like to jump. They were basically kind of greeting her.

“I guess when the dogs were jumping, and their paws and their nails hit her, it ripped her skin pretty bad on her arm.

“But unfortunately, her skin is very thin and I guess one of the dogs, all the dogs, made contact with her skin and ripped it.”

Ladd suffered lacerations to her head, chest and arm, caused by the dogs’ nails when they jumped on her, James said. He says Ladd was not bitten, and insists the dogs intended no harm.

“She has a laceration on her chest,” he said. “It needed three stitches. The most visible one was on her arm.”

Elizabeth James intervened, accidently causing her mother to fall, Guy James says, causing Ladd's most serious injury.

“Her mother fell backwards,” he said. “When she fell backwards she hit her elbow, and she fell on her side. She fractured her elbow and she has a fracture on her pelvic bone.”

Ladd remains hospitalized, unable to walk due to her broken pelvic bone, James says. When she was hospitalized, the hospital contacted Princeton Township Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson, who went to the hospital, where he questioned Guy James, James says.

“I can just tell in his eyes that he was going to do what he can to put these dogs down,” James said of Johnson.

Instead, the Jameses had all four dogs euthanized by the family’s veterinarian yesterday morning, James says. Put down were Congo and his mate, Lucia, both 3-and-a-half years old, and Shadow and Hunter, both age 2.

Johnson had ordered that Congo be euthanized last year after he and the three other dogs involved in Tuesday’s incident attacked two family landscapers. In that instance, Jameses argued that Congo was rightfully defending Elizabeth James, thinking the landscapers were attacking her. The more seriously injured of the two men attacked received a $250,000 insurance settlement from the family.

Congo's death sentence was upheld by a Princeton Township judge, but the Jameses appealed and a settlement reached in April spared the dog's life.

Guy James insisted his dogs again did nothing wrong in this latest incident.

“I can assure you this was not an attack,” he said.

James says he and his wife are convinced, however, that the dogs would again be ordered impounded by Johnson for an extended period, as they were after last year’s incident. James says Johnson would again have sought a death sentence to resolve this latest matter.

Johnson did not return a voice mail left by Pet Pulse seeking comment. He told the Trenton Times, however, that he would not have ordered the dogs euthanized this time.

"We couldn't prove which one had done the biting, so we would not have pushed for a vicious dog label," Johnson said. He says he maintains his belief that the original decision to euthanize Congo should never have been rescinded through a settlement between the Jameses and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.

"I prayed to God that (another dog attack involving Congo) never would happen, but in the back of my mind I knew it would," Johnson the Trenton Times. "It was just a matter of time."

Guy James says he does not believe Johnson's claim.

“If Mark Johnson was not involved in this whole thing I would have not put them down,” James said. “Our decision was based on really that Mark was going to come take the dogs and have them locked up for, God knows how long -- six months, eight months, however long it may be.

“And the final outcome would ultimately have been going (to be put) down. Honestly, I wasn’t going to do that to my dogs.

“So we figured we’d do the most humane thing we possibly could. And rather than them suffering through the next six to eight months in a shelter, and then be put down later, then we decided that we will put them down and we will do it ourselves.”

The dogs were euthanized yesterday morning, taken to the vet at 5:30 a.m. to have them put down before Johnson ordered their death, James says.

James says the rationale behind that decision was, “At least we’ll be there with them, so they don’t have to go through the whole ordeal, and we don’t have to go through the whole ordeal."

Congo’s plight last year sparked global media attention and support world-wide from animal lovers, including a protest outside the township's Municipal Court featuring chants of "Free Congo!" The Jameses say they received thousands of e-mails from people wanting Congo’s life spared.

As a result of the case, Union County Assemblyman Neil Cohen wrote a bill called “Congo’s Law,” aimed at making it tougher for dogs to be euthanized after a biting incident. It would also enable dogs to remain free, instead of being impounded, pending legal proceedings involving them.

The bill was passed by the State Assembly but was rejected by the State Senate. Until this latest incident, the Jameses said they planned to continue promoting the need for Congo's Law. They also spoke of starting a foundation to raise money to provide legal expenses and boarding fees for those whose dogs are involved in situations similar to Congo's initial case.

James says he has spoken with Cohen since this latest incident.

“After I explained to him what happened he really understood,” James said.

Since news of the dogs’ death surfaced, the Jameses have gotten many e-mails from sympathetic supporters, though Guy James is also aware of negative feedback that has appeared on the Internet, he says.

Asked what he would tell the throngs of people who have supported Congo and Congo’s Law, James said, “Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s changed about people’s support, and shouldn’t change people’s feelings supporting Congo in the past because he didn’t do anything wrong.

“He didn’t do anything wrong and none of the puppies did anything wrong. We appreciate all the support that we had in the first situation, and this should not at all change people’s minds as to their efforts from the first situation.”

Just recently, Congo, Lucia, Shadow and Hunter were playing ball in the family backyard with a large group of people, James says.

Now they are all gone.

“Probably one of the worst things, the hardest, hardest things that I could ever have to deal with, except for possibly losing a family member,” James said.

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