Post by Brooke on Jan 21, 2004 19:18:52 GMT -5
Posted on Sat, Jan. 10, 2004
Manager of animal shelter is charged
The head of a Newark facility is accused of altering records concerning a dog that later killed a Medford woman.
By Troy Graham
Inquirer Staff Writer
Burlington County authorities have charged the manager of a Newark animal shelter with altering records that showed a dog the shelter gave to a Medford woman for adoption had a history of vicious behavior.
The dog, a Doberman pinscher named Luger, mauled and killed his owner, 67-year-old Valerie deSwart, 10 days after she adopted him.
Prosecutors began an investigation into the Associated Humane Societies after discovering that the dog's previous owner had paid the Newark shelter to euthanize the 95-pound Doberman because the dog had bitten her. Instead, the dog remained in a kennel for 87 days before deSwart adopted him in August.
The dog killed deSwart in her Stokes Road home on Sept. 7. Her boyfriend discovered her body in the bedroom, with the dog lying nearby.
Prosecutors said yesterday that they had concluded their investigation into the shelter, bringing just one charge against the manager, Denton Infield, 42, of Elizabeth.
He could face 18 months in prison if convicted of tampering with evidence.
After investigators subpoenaed records relating to the dog in September, Infield told an employee to delete portions of one document pertaining to the dog's "prior vicious behavior," prosecutors said. The erased portions were notations that the previous owner had paid $55 for the dog to be destroyed.
The employee told her superiors, who then gave prosecutors the complete documents.
Infield was arrested and later released in December. The case now will go before a grand jury, as prosecutors seek a formal indictment.
There was no phone listing for Infield in Elizabeth, and the shelter's attorney did not return phone calls to his office and cell phone seeking comment.
The lawyer, Harry Jay Levin, said last year the shelter made a mistake by not destroying the dog, but he said shelter employees told deSwart about the dog's history. The woman's son, David deSwart, said that his mother never would have adopted Luger if she knew he was vicious.
The 3-year-old dog has since been destroyed.
Authorities first investigated the case as a homicide, seeking reckless-manslaughter charges against the Associated Humane Societies and its employees.
After "exhaustive legal research," prosecutors could find no precedent that allows a shelter to be held responsible for the behavior of an animal it sells or gives away. A shelter or individual person would have to "consciously disregard a known risk" to be charged, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
"The risk must be a substantial risk of death, not merely a possibility," the statement said.
No other charges are expected in the case.
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Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 856-779-3893 or tgraham@phillynews.com. Inquirer staff writer Sam Wood contributed to this article.
Manager of animal shelter is charged
The head of a Newark facility is accused of altering records concerning a dog that later killed a Medford woman.
By Troy Graham
Inquirer Staff Writer
Burlington County authorities have charged the manager of a Newark animal shelter with altering records that showed a dog the shelter gave to a Medford woman for adoption had a history of vicious behavior.
The dog, a Doberman pinscher named Luger, mauled and killed his owner, 67-year-old Valerie deSwart, 10 days after she adopted him.
Prosecutors began an investigation into the Associated Humane Societies after discovering that the dog's previous owner had paid the Newark shelter to euthanize the 95-pound Doberman because the dog had bitten her. Instead, the dog remained in a kennel for 87 days before deSwart adopted him in August.
The dog killed deSwart in her Stokes Road home on Sept. 7. Her boyfriend discovered her body in the bedroom, with the dog lying nearby.
Prosecutors said yesterday that they had concluded their investigation into the shelter, bringing just one charge against the manager, Denton Infield, 42, of Elizabeth.
He could face 18 months in prison if convicted of tampering with evidence.
After investigators subpoenaed records relating to the dog in September, Infield told an employee to delete portions of one document pertaining to the dog's "prior vicious behavior," prosecutors said. The erased portions were notations that the previous owner had paid $55 for the dog to be destroyed.
The employee told her superiors, who then gave prosecutors the complete documents.
Infield was arrested and later released in December. The case now will go before a grand jury, as prosecutors seek a formal indictment.
There was no phone listing for Infield in Elizabeth, and the shelter's attorney did not return phone calls to his office and cell phone seeking comment.
The lawyer, Harry Jay Levin, said last year the shelter made a mistake by not destroying the dog, but he said shelter employees told deSwart about the dog's history. The woman's son, David deSwart, said that his mother never would have adopted Luger if she knew he was vicious.
The 3-year-old dog has since been destroyed.
Authorities first investigated the case as a homicide, seeking reckless-manslaughter charges against the Associated Humane Societies and its employees.
After "exhaustive legal research," prosecutors could find no precedent that allows a shelter to be held responsible for the behavior of an animal it sells or gives away. A shelter or individual person would have to "consciously disregard a known risk" to be charged, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
"The risk must be a substantial risk of death, not merely a possibility," the statement said.
No other charges are expected in the case.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 856-779-3893 or tgraham@phillynews.com. Inquirer staff writer Sam Wood contributed to this article.