Post by maryellen on Nov 16, 2012 17:56:19 GMT -5
www.njherald.com/story/20114139/2-wolf-dogs-shot-dead-by-state-police-during-attack
WANTAGE -- A New Jersey state trooper shot and killed two wolf-dog hybrid animals as one was mauling a third dog, state police said.
All three animals died from injuries sustained from the incident on Nov. 6.
State police spokesman Sgt. Adam Grossman said the trooper was called to the home on Hudson Avenue in the Lake Neepaulin section of Wantage before noon by neighbors who witnessed the wolf-dogs attacking the third canine.
The third dog, a 2-year-old pug-beagle mix named Chase, had wandered away from his home down the street and made his way into the makeshift pen that housed the wolf-dogs.
Neighbors said the incident shook the whole lake community.
"I was watching television in my living room when I heard the screaming," said a neighbor who witnessed the shooting, but asked to not be named. "I went outside and saw the (state) troopers pull up, then I heard the first shot, and then two more."
The two wolf-dogs that were killed were owned by Scott Bercume, who rented the property and was breeding the wolf-dogs in a partially penned area just yards away from an elementary school bus stop.
According to state police, as the trooper approached the two wolf-dogs and observed one violently shaking Chase in its mouth, he fired a warning shot in the air to try to distract the animals and allow Chase to escape.
The wolf-dogs then proceeded to run at the trooper, who then shot both dogs. One died on the scene and the other died of its wound at a veterinarian's office. Chase, too, later died from his injuries at a veterinarian's office.
"This was a difficult decision for the trooper at the scene," Grossman said. "His paramount priority was the safety of the children in the area."
The Wantage Office of Animal Control said Bercume did not have a license to own the wolf-dogs, nor did he apply for a permit to raise a "potentially dangerous species" within the municipality.
Also, this was not the first time Bercume was contacted by animal control officers about the wolf-dogs.
According to the animal control office, officials were called out to Bercume's home on Oct. 20, 2011, regarding three wolf-dogs he had chained up in the front yard of the property. He was instructed by Animal Control Officer Mike Flood to construct a "secure enclosure for his animals" and was issued a verbal warning to license the wolf-dogs.
The neighbor who witnessed the shooting said the dogs would often get off their chains and wander in the neighborhood.
"They were creepy. I came face to face with one and it was scary. Those animals do not belong here," she said. "If he wants to breed them, then go get a big piece of property, not put up chicken wire next to a school bus stop."
Bercume said the breeding pair he had in the front yard were only doing what any other animal would do if threatened.
"I don't know why the trooper came on to my property and shot my animals. They were chained up and could not get out," Bercume said. "The dog that wandered into their pen was loose. They just did what dogs do."
Animal Control issued summonses to the owner of the pug for failure to license and allowing the dog to run at large, and to Bercume for failure to license three wolf-hybrid animals. The third wolf-hybrid was inside the house and not involved in the incident.
WANTAGE -- A New Jersey state trooper shot and killed two wolf-dog hybrid animals as one was mauling a third dog, state police said.
All three animals died from injuries sustained from the incident on Nov. 6.
State police spokesman Sgt. Adam Grossman said the trooper was called to the home on Hudson Avenue in the Lake Neepaulin section of Wantage before noon by neighbors who witnessed the wolf-dogs attacking the third canine.
The third dog, a 2-year-old pug-beagle mix named Chase, had wandered away from his home down the street and made his way into the makeshift pen that housed the wolf-dogs.
Neighbors said the incident shook the whole lake community.
"I was watching television in my living room when I heard the screaming," said a neighbor who witnessed the shooting, but asked to not be named. "I went outside and saw the (state) troopers pull up, then I heard the first shot, and then two more."
The two wolf-dogs that were killed were owned by Scott Bercume, who rented the property and was breeding the wolf-dogs in a partially penned area just yards away from an elementary school bus stop.
According to state police, as the trooper approached the two wolf-dogs and observed one violently shaking Chase in its mouth, he fired a warning shot in the air to try to distract the animals and allow Chase to escape.
The wolf-dogs then proceeded to run at the trooper, who then shot both dogs. One died on the scene and the other died of its wound at a veterinarian's office. Chase, too, later died from his injuries at a veterinarian's office.
"This was a difficult decision for the trooper at the scene," Grossman said. "His paramount priority was the safety of the children in the area."
The Wantage Office of Animal Control said Bercume did not have a license to own the wolf-dogs, nor did he apply for a permit to raise a "potentially dangerous species" within the municipality.
Also, this was not the first time Bercume was contacted by animal control officers about the wolf-dogs.
According to the animal control office, officials were called out to Bercume's home on Oct. 20, 2011, regarding three wolf-dogs he had chained up in the front yard of the property. He was instructed by Animal Control Officer Mike Flood to construct a "secure enclosure for his animals" and was issued a verbal warning to license the wolf-dogs.
The neighbor who witnessed the shooting said the dogs would often get off their chains and wander in the neighborhood.
"They were creepy. I came face to face with one and it was scary. Those animals do not belong here," she said. "If he wants to breed them, then go get a big piece of property, not put up chicken wire next to a school bus stop."
Bercume said the breeding pair he had in the front yard were only doing what any other animal would do if threatened.
"I don't know why the trooper came on to my property and shot my animals. They were chained up and could not get out," Bercume said. "The dog that wandered into their pen was loose. They just did what dogs do."
Animal Control issued summonses to the owner of the pug for failure to license and allowing the dog to run at large, and to Bercume for failure to license three wolf-hybrid animals. The third wolf-hybrid was inside the house and not involved in the incident.