commentary by Patrick H. Moore
Dog Fear. Some of us have it; some of us don’t. Some of us have it worse than others. My Pops had dog fear and I picked it up from him as a kid, but then I shed it later on. For a few years, I took pride in “routing dogs” when they got a little too aggressive by taking one quick step toward them while shouting ferociously. No better sight than to see an aggressive canine change its tune and retreat in fear.
But the fact of the matter is, I was never attacked by a beast except on one occasion later on when a man-hating canine [who had clearly been abused by previous owner(s)] snuck up behind me and took a chunk out of my thigh. Since then, some of my early dog fear has returned and I’m far more reluctant to try and rout them.
On balance, though, I’ve been reasonably lucky in the dog-bite sweepstakes, far luckier than Craig Sytsma, 46, of rural Metamora Township, 45 miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan.
Sasha Goldstein writes for the New York Daily News:
The owners of two massive cane corsos that mauled to death a man as he jogged along a rural Michigan road could face charges in the death, the third attack involving the dogs since 2012, authorities said. (Note: The owners, Valbona Lucaj and husband Sebastiano Quagliata, have been charged with second-degree-murder and have agreed that the cane corsos will be euthanized.)
The 3-year-old dogs were untethered when they pounced on Craig Sytsma, 46, as he jogged along Thomas Road, a rural dirt road in Metamora Township around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. A neighbor mowing his lawn waved to the runner as he did a pass in the yard — then saw the man lying in a ditch, the two dogs ripping at the man’s arms, the next time he came around.
“He was jogging, doing what everybody else does out there, running and riding bikes,” Metamora Township police Officer Sean Leathers, one of the first on scene, said.
When the neighbor saw the dogs “ripping at the man’s arms,” he grabbed his gun and fired it, grazing one of the beasts, in an attempt to scare them off.
“He yelled at the dogs,” Lapeer County Sheriff’s Office Det. Sgt. Jason Parks told the Detroit Free Press. “They would not release.”
The dogs eventually disengaged and ran back home. The helpful neighbor and another witness, a nurse who tried CPR, did everything they could to save the man, who had no identification and no cellphone, but to no avail.
Sytsma died an hour later at a local hospital. A divorcee, he leaves three surviving children.
It took a full day for police to identify Sytsma. An employee arrived at his office in nearby Oxford Township, and realized his car had been there overnight, which seemed strange because the building was unlocked with no sign of Sytsma. The employee reported his discovery to law enforcement who then put the pieces together.
The American Kennel Club describes the Italian mastiff-like cane corsos as “noble, majestic, and powerful in presence.” They are bred to hunt wild boar and typically weigh around 100 pounds.
The second-degree-murder charges against Lucaj and Quagliata stem from the fact that the dogs, which have been in Metamora since 2011, were already known to law enforcement and animal control DUE TO A BITING INCIDENT IN 2012 – AND A SECOND INCIDENT IN 2013.
Sebastiano Quagliata reportedly made quite an impression on his neighbors when he and and his menagerie of pets moved to the neighborhood a few years ago. He allegedly approached one local resident, who has a young daughter, with a pet hawk perched on his arm and one of the corsos running unleashed.
Ashley Winter, 31, told the Free Press that she asked Quagliata if the cane corso was aggressive and he responded by saying, ‘Yeah, everything I own is aggressive.’ Ms. Winter reports that she then said to herself, ‘What have we gotten ourselves into?’
Ms. Winter’s question was answered soon enough. Local resident April Smith was walking by the Lucaj-Quagliata home one day in May 2012 when one of the dogs ran up behind her and latched onto her leg. The damage at that time: 3 holes in Ms. Smith’s leg and some bleeding.
That attack was fortunately aborted when the owner’s son called the animal off.
“I cannot believe this happened to someone,” Smith told the Free Press. “I’m not mad at the dogs, I’m so upset with the owners. I thought something would be done with these dogs, but nothing was done. Nothing was ever done. Those dogs are vicious. It’s not a joke.”
The authorities report that a man in his 70s was attacked one year later in 2013. It’s unclear how much damage was done in the second attack.
“It’s just crazy to me,” said Smith. “Animal control should have done something. It should have never gone this far. The fact this has led to a death, it’s sickening.”
After Mr. Sytsma’s death, Det. Sgt. Parks stated. “They’re a public threat. They’re beyond rehabilitation.”
The AP now reports that Lucaj and Quagliata have signed an agreement with Lapeer County authorities stating that the two cane corsos and a third cane corso will be euthanized as soon as possible. The dogs are currently in custody along with eight puppies at a location separate from Lucaj and Quagliata. The puppies will be offered up for adoption to an animal rescue group.
Bond has been set at $500,000 each for Lucaj and Quagliata, although prosecutors wanted $1 million, believing the suspects might flee the country. Furthermore, although he settled for the lower amount, Magistrate Judge Mike Delling noted that there’s “some question” about the couple’s immigration status.
Assistant prosecutor Michael Hodges stated outside of court that an “extensive history” of previous attacks by the dogs played a role in the charges, which include possessing a dangerous animal causing death.
Needless to say, murder charges against dog owners are quite rare. In May 2013, a Los Angeles County man was charged after a 63-year-old woman died from more than 150 bites by four pit bulls. The case is still pending.
Lucaj, 44, a native of Albania, and Quagliata, 45, a native of Italy, have had a long-running legal battle with federal immigration officials after arriving here in the late 1990s.
They are scheduled to return to court on Aug. 8.
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To make the second-degree-murder charges stick, the prosecutors would have to convince a jury that Sytsma’s death occurred based on malevolent intent on the part of Lucaj and Quagliata, which might not be easy. Given the situation, a manslaughter conviction would appear to be a much easier.
In some cases, a conviction for involuntary manslaughter constitutes a “crime of moral turpitude” which, to the best of my knowledge, automatically triggers deportation in immigration cases. Here, given what appears to be clear negligence on the part of the owners, I suspect that this offense will be considered a “crime of moral turpitude. If Lucaj and Quagliata are convicted of voluntary manslaughter, once they’ve completed their sentences they will certainly be “gone, baby, gone.”
And, just for the record, I would be remiss if I failed to point out that the obvious — that the cane corsos who are about to be euthanized would probably be living long happy lives were it not for the clear negligence (and possible mistreatment) on the part of their masters that led them to this unfortunate pass. There does not appear to be any evidence suggesting that these dogs started out as killers, but if they were innately aggressive for whatever reason, they should have been tethered at all times both for their protection and the protection of the humanoids in the neighborhood.