In one of the incidents in Hoboken, three dogs attacked a group of eight dogs that were with two handlers. One of the dogs suffered very serious injuries.
Three of the six dogs owned by Robert Braxton of Hoboken will be euthanized, and the judge on Tuesday placed responsibility on the dog owner.
Braxton came to court without an attorney, even though he had been given an extra week to retain counsel.
He had six Cane Corso dogs, who had a history of incidents, and were removed from his home.
One of the incidents included when 3 dogs attacked two guests on February 16 at a hotel in Secaucus. Their severe injuries were included as evidence during the testimony.
On February 18, when animalcontrol officers went to seize the dogs from the Braxton's residence in Hoboken, they found the animals running loose in the Hoboken ShopRite parking lot.
Owners were scrambling, and one of the severely injured dogs required extensive surgery to survive.
Braxton, 42, appeared in court in an attempt to save 3 of his Cane Corso dogs from being euthanized, but the case against him was solid.
Animal cuelty attorney Brendan Brower brought in an animal control officer, Jeff Santini, to testify about trying to secure and transport the dogs after the court ordered them surrendered.
"Once I got them inside and closed the hatch they were attacking the fence, trying to pull it through," Santini said.
Braxton was barely able to put up any defense against the evidence.
Several photos of the injuries and videos of the two incidents were shown in court on Tuesday.
In the end, the judge, who noted that she is a dog lover, said she had no choice but to rule that the dogs are vicious and must be euthanized.
"I wanted to find them dangerous because then there would be another option. But as I looked at their history and I looked at the injuries of the victim, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office has met their standard of convincing, and they are vicious. I am going to give you 20 days to appeal," the judge said.
Braxton does have 20 days to appeal the ruling, but even if he does appeal and the dogs are not euthanized, he cannot get them back. The judge also ruled that he is no longer allowed to own dogs and is facing numerous fines in the case.
He is also facing multiple criminal charges in connection with the two incidents and will have to return to court to address those charges.
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