Pit bulls kill family's pet in Millstone
Family petitions to keep dogs involved in incident out of neighborhood
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Max, a 5-month-old schnoodle owned by a Millstone family, was killed by two pit bulls on Jan. 23.

Two pit bulls killed a 5-month-old puppy on Oak Hill Drive in Millstone on Jan. 23.Gerry Barbaruolo, of 5 Oak Hill Drive, was walking her dog, a 10-pound schnoodle named Max, in her front yard at approximately 4:30 p.m. that Tuesday when the puppy pulled the leash away from her grasp.

When Max started taking off up the hill in front of the family's property, Barbaruolo said she believed he would come back as he always did. When he didn't, however, she chased after him but wasn't fast enough to catch up to him before he crossed the street and entered the neighbor's yard, where the pit bulls were enclosed by an invisible fence.

"Max was a playful puppy who knew nothing of fear or dangerous dogs," Barbaruolo said. "He was the friendliest little thing in the world. He would approach any dog. He didn't care."

Barbaruolo described what she saw of the struggle that ensued.

"The smaller dog got a hold of Max's leash and then got a hold of Max," she said. "Once the one dog got a hold of Max, the other dog got on top of him.

"I could hear him whimpering," she continued. "At this point I was hysterical, screaming. I was raw. There was no one around."

Barbaruolo said she tried calling her puppy and threw rocks at the other dogs but to no avail. She ultimately ran back down the hill to her home, where she grabbed a mop stick and alerted her children, daughter Jenna, 15, and son Jamie, 12, as to what was going on. Once the family got back to street level, however, the dogs had taken Max somewhere out of sight.

Barbaruolo called 911, and the operator told her to get her family somewhere safe while they waited for the New Jersey State Police to arrive. When the troopers arrived, they called in Animal Control Officer Mary Klink, who later told the Examiner that she was frightened of the pit bulls and would not go near the dogs until the owner returned home. She described the animals as neutered male dogs weighing approximately 70 pounds and 150 pounds.

Klink said that although Gerry may feel that she should have done more to save Max, "what she has to remember is that she is so lucky that the dogs didn't come through the fence after her."

When certain breeds of dogs get into "prey drive," according to Klink, they could easily try to harm or kill anything.

"I'm truly glad it wasn't a child because it easily could have been," Klink said.

Once the owner of the pit bulls, Kris Taglianetti, got home, he muzzled the dogs. Klink took them into custody and later transported them to the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township, where they are being held until the issue can be heard in municipal court.

When contacted about the incident, Taglianetti, of 4 Oak Hill Drive, sent a statement to the Examiner. In the statement, Taglianetti wrote that he moved into the neighborhood, away from New York City, "so I might have wide open space and my dogs could have the freedom to roam on a beautiful countrified property."

He continued, "Unfortunately, one of the neighbor's dogs unleashed entered my property passing the electric fence lines and into my dogs' territory," he wrote. "Unfortunately, this dog was killed by my pets.

"My dogs were on my own property and probably were just protecting their environment," Taglianetti went on. "I have spent the last few nights after this episode feeling totally depressed, knowing that these people are so distraught to have lost their pet."

Taglianetti wrote that he feels the incident was not his fault.

"My dogs were not off chains - they were on their own territory," he said. "Now my family pets have been traumatized by being taken to a shelter and put into a cage."

Klink took Max's body to Cream Ridge Pet Care for an autopsy. His body will later be returned to the family for cremation or burial, she said.

Klink's investigation into how the pit bulls were kept revealed that they had shelter and were sufficiently cared for, and that there were no signs of animal cruelty.

Perry Barbaruolos said his neighborhood should not have to live in fear, which is why he decided to send a petition around the neighborhood, asking that the dogs not be allowed to return to the neighborhood.

"Little Max was sacrificed for a reason - to awaken us," Perry said. "He ran over there to sacrifice his life for us."

Perry told his family, "If it was you kids or Mommy, I couldn't live with that."

Klink said the incident is a perfect example of why people should not mix aggressive dogs into neighborhoods with children and other pets.

Klink said that although she would like to keep the dogs out of the neighborhood, only the municipal court judge can make that determination.

However, she said that the dogs were seized from the owner via the New Jersey Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act.

A "potentially dangerous dog" is a dog that has caused bodily injury or death to a person; a dog that has severely injured or killed another domestic animal, provided that the dog injured or killed was not the aggressor; or a dog that has been trained, tormented, badgered, baited or encouraged to engage in unprovoked attacks upon people or domestic animals.

"The dogs can be returned to the neighbor, but it will essentially be the owner's choice to put the animals down or to meet certain criteria to get the dogs back," Klink said.

The owner must register the dog as potentially dangerous. A potentially dangerous dog license could cost up to $750 apiece, Klink said. The dog must be enclosed in a structure that has sound sides, a top and a bottom, and a fence around it. The enclosure must be locked to prevent entry by other people. If taken out of the enclosure, the dog must be securely muzzled and restrained with a tether to restrict the dog's movements to a radius of no more than 3 feet from the owner.

Dangerous dog owners may also be required to maintain liability insurance in an amount determined by a municipal judge in order to cover any damage or injury caused by the potentially dangerous dog. Klink said a $750,000 insurance policy is usually recommended.

Because many potentially dangerous dog owners cannot meet the criteria set before them, Klink said that 99.9 percent of the time, dogs that have been involved in incidents such as this are put to sleep.

Taglianetti, who said he wants his dogs returned to him, said he has made "a difficult decision" in moving them to another location."

When asked what would happen in that case, Klink said she would most likely have to contact the municipality's animal control and/or police department.

"I imagine their laws are just as stringent," she said.

Neighbor Angela Vigliarolo and the Barbaruolos said they feel "a lot safer" now that the dogs have been removed from their neighborhood.

"I do not want the dogs back here," Vigliarolo said.

"We don't know if they're coming back, but they're gone for now," Gerry said.

The matter was set to go before the Millstone Township Municipal Court at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 30, which was after press time.