Slain dog’s owner wants pit bull put down — nowA Staten Island man whose Chihuahua was killed by a pit bull named Caesar earlier this year is pleading for a Manhattan judge to allow the condemned dog to be put to sleep before it attacks again.
Eugene Charles, 77, who is fighting efforts by Caesar’s owners to save the dog from being euthanized, details in new court papers the viciousness of the May 17 mauling of his little dog, Charlie.
“I was walking my Chihuahua on North Railroad Avenue . . . near my home, when a brown pit bull dog . . . ran toward me and aggressively lunged at my Chihuahua,” Charles recounts in an affidavit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday.
“The pit bull grabbed my Chihuahua by the side with its mouth and dragged it along the sidewalk, refusing to let go,” he adds.
“I was also dragged along the sidewalk . . . In the process, the pit bull bit my arms and hands. My Chihuahua died on the sidewalk.”
Caesar is now being held at a city shelter, and his owners, Kristina and Douglas Panattieri, have filed a lawsuit to save him from being euthanized for the attack.
Records show Caesar had previously gotten out of his yard and mauled a Maltese dog.
The Panattieris’ attorney, Richard Bruce Rosenthal, said Thursday that Caesar should be released from city custody because he is suffering from respiratory disease and pneumonia.
He blames the city for Caesar’s condition and says his clients are considering filing a federal lawsuit claiming the pit bull has been “tortured.”
By Julia Marsh August 12, 2016
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