MA: Pit Bull heroin suspect back in jail

[RealPitBull]

Ughhh.....awful, poor dog. I never heard about this first time around.

www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1503764203/Pitbull-heroin-suspect-back-in-jail

Pitbull heroin suspect back in jail

Dugan hit with drug, alcohol use, probation violation charges

By Marjorie Nesin Staff Writer


A day after a court appearance punctuated by protesters waving signs in memory of the pitbull gutted and found in Gloucester four months ago, the 27-year-old man charged with that crime was arrested again Wednesday for allegedly violating his probation with drug and alcohol use and will be held without prejudice until a new court date Friday.

When police arrested John “Jack” Dugan in a room at the Captain’s Lodge Motor Inn Wednesday about 1:23 p.m., Dugan, who had been mandated under pre-trial probation to abstain from drug and alcohol use, told police that he had consumed alcohol and used drugs, including smoking marijuana since leaving court Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Dugan, who police believe sliced open his pet pitbull Xena in December in order to retrieve heroin his dog had ingested, told police Wednesday that he had “snorted” Percocet pills, an opiate and narcotic, and consumed a bottle of Jameson whiskey Tuesday night after his court appearance.

“Dugan stated he relapsed after his court proceeding yesterday,” Detective Steven Mizzoni wrote in the report.

Dugan had appeared in court Tuesday for a status hearing that Judge Joseph Jennings continued to May 3, tacking a pre-trial hearing on to the May date.

A judge had set the terms of Dugan’s pre-trial probation in December. He is ordered to abstain from any drug use or alcohol consumption and is ordered not to possess animals.

Probation officers were first tipped off to Dugan’s possible drug use Wednesday, when employees at Addison Gilbert Hospital notified the probation department that Dugan had not attended his court required Discover drug program class at the hospital Wednesday, police said.

Dugan, who was released from Middleton Jail in mid-January after posting $20,000 bail, had been set to graduate the drug program this week.

“Yeah, I was going to graduate Friday,” Dugan told the Clerk Magistrate after the arrest.

Police learned Wednesday that Dugan was renting a hotel room at the motor inn, and five police officers and a probation officer showed up at Dugan’s rented room to investigate.

Though Dugan refused to submit to a urine test after admitting to the drug use, police found an object in the hotel room that Dugan told police was a device he crafted in order to conceal urine for a drug screen. The device consisted of a 5-Hour Energy Drink bottle filled with drug-free urine, wrapped with electrical tape, and attached to two hand warmers, small disposable pockets used to produce heat and warm the urine, police said.

Police seized the urine carrying device, a bag of marijuana found inside the room, and the empty bottle of Jameson liquor as evidence, according to police.

Dugan is ordered to appear in court Friday.

Marjorie Nesin can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3451, or at [e-mail].

[RealPitBull]

More.....

www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1874099057/Protesters-see-pitbull-case-continued

March 6, 2013
Protesters see pitbull case continued

Judge continues case; protesters rally for pitbull

By Marjorie Nesin Staff Writer


A Gloucester District Court judge set a pretrial hearing date for May 3 in the case against John “Jack” Dugan, the 27-year-old Gloucester man accused of gutting his pet pit bull in what police say was an attempt to remove heroin from the dog’s innards.

Many people close to the case, including Dugan’s lawyer John Morris, had expected the case to be moved forward to Salem Superior Court as a result of the Tuesday status hearing. But, to the dismay of about a half dozen protesters who stood in front of the court from about 9 a.m. to the time Dugan left the court about 11 a.m., Judge Joseph Jennings took no further action on the charge of animal cruelty except to extend it to May 3, as the defense requested, and add the pretrial hearing for that date, as well.

Dugan has yet to enter a formal plea or face a grand jury indictment in the case that has captured the interest of animal rights activists around the country, with more than 93,000 people signing an online petition urging Judge Jenings to deal harshly with Dugan’s case.

”We’re here to give them the message that people are watching and we’re not going to forget, ever,” said animal rights activist Lisa Casavant.

Casavant travelled from Andover to stand outside the courthouse Tuesday. Gloucester resident Kristen Lark, a pitbull owner herself, came, too, to stand and defend the deceased dog, Xena — part of a breed Lark said is already persecuted.

“What he did to this dog is horrendous,” Lark said. “And the kicker is pitbulls already have a bad rep.”

The protesters waved signs with printed images of the pitbull Xena and messages memorializing the dog, greeting passers-by and watching as Dugan entered the court,. He had been out on bail from jail mid-January upon meeting the terms of a $20,000 cash bond.

Since his release from Middleton Jail, Dugan has entered a drug and alcohol daytime treatment program and has otherwise laid low, he told a Times reporter at the courthouse Tuesday.

”Right now, I just go home and watch movies with the girlfriend mostly,” Dugan said. “I try to keep my head down.”

Dugan had been arrested in December after police found Xena’s disemboweled body discarded in a pile of brush near a Sadler Street fence that separates the street from the wooded area by the Route 128 Extension, according to a police report. Police said Dugan, in a December police interview, admitted to cutting Xena open after the dog ingested heroin that had been left on a table in his home.

While police believe Dugan cut open the dog to retrieve a sealed bag of heroin that the dog had also ingested, Dugan had told police he cut Xena open in order to relieve bloating so he could dispose of her body.

Dugan, dressed in slacks and a sweater, sat in court Tuesday, his girlfriend and Xena’s co-owner, Alexa Salah, clasping one of his hands between hers. Salah confirmed that “of course” she misses Xena, but she has forgiven Dugan for what happened to Xena while the dog was in his care, and she declined further comment.

Dugan’s attorney, Morris, did not return calls for comment on the case Tuesday, but the defense likely requested a continuation because of the possibility of the case moving to Superior Court. When cases move to the Superior Court level, the District Court case is dismissed and the entire process starts anew, according to Carrie Kimball Monahan, a spokeswoman for the office of District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.

”I am able to confirm that the case is currently being reviewed for possible Superior Court action,” Monahan said. “Once it gets to Superior Court, you’re just dismissing the district court case. So if you’re anticipating it, you don’t want to spend so much time in district because it’s just going to get kicked.”

Monahan noted that a necropsy report, detailing Xena’s death, would likely be considered part of evidence and said she cannot confirm whether the district attorney had, as of Tuesday, received the report.

Marjorie Nesin can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3451, or at [e-mail].

[megan]

I remember hearing about this when it occurred. I makes me sick to think about

[RealPitBull]

Visceral reaction outta this one.

[michele5611]

What a sick world we live in.