Tweet
RE: Patrick the pit bull
From the <span style="text-decoration: underline">New Jersey Star-Ledger</span>.....
<span style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="font-weight: bold">Newark woman admits abandoning Patrick the pit bull, but denies abuse charges</span></span>
By Alexi Friedman
Published: Monday, July 09, 2012, 11:34 AM Updated: Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 9:24 AM
NEWARK — The Newark woman charged with tossing her emaciated pit bull down a trash chute admitted today she had abandoned the dog but added she "never harmed him or tortured him in any way."
Following an appearance in Superior Court in Newark this morning, Kisha Curtis said in her first extended interview since her arrest last year that she did not starve the canine, which was found near dead in March 2011 at the bottom of the trash chute in a Newark high-rise.
Curtis, 28, said she only had the dog, which has been renamed Patrick and is now healthy, for just two days before leaving the animal in her hallway for the security guard to handle. She admitted she could not take care of the dog, and said the security guard would. Curtis said the dog was doing well when she leashed it to a stairwell doorknob in her hallway, adding she was upset after seeing photos in the news of the emaciated animal days later.
"He was healthy the last time I saw him, and that's how I expected him to be," Curtis said today outside the courthouse. Curtis also said she was the dog's third owner, and that she hadn't even given it a name. He was later named Patrick by veterinarians of the Tinton Falls center, where he was nursed back to health.
Curtis faces a fourth-degree cruelty to animals charge for allegedly tossing the now-famous pit bull. She has previously rejected an offer from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office calling for up to 18 months in prison, a $5,000 fine and 30 days' community service.
Curtis is applying for a pretrial intervention program, which if accepted, would eventually wipe the criminal charge from her record. Today, her public defender asked the court for more time, and a July 31 court date was set.
There is also an ongoing civil suit between the City of Newark and Associated Humane Societies, which claims custody of Patrick. Superior Court Judge Joseph Cassini III, who is handling the criminal case against Curtis and the civil case, has ordered the dog temporarily remain in the home of the administrator of the veterinary facility.
Curtis, who now has a small red heart tattoo just above her nose, said she would take responsibility for abandoning the animal but not for torturing it, and was "completely destroyed" after learning Patrick had been abused.
Now that the dog has recovered, Curtis said she is "happy about that. I wish him well...Mainly, I'm embarrassed and still feel a lot of pain." --
She has the raw nerve to turn down the generous plea bargain of only 18 months?! As widespread as this case is?? As popular as Patrick the pit bull has become??? Is this chick on drugs????? The law in NJ calls for <span style="font-weight: bold">up to 5 years</span> for the crime of abandoning and abusing a dog. She could, potentially, get 5 years... and believe me, here in Essex county, she probably <span style="font-style: italic">WILL</span> get the max sentence!... partially because most folks hereabouts - both black and white - own and love pit bulls, and partially because the white rich sections of Essex county are populated with a lot of folks who are <span style="font-style: italic">prejudiced as hell</span> and care far more about a dog than a black human being...
First off - I think she's insane to turn that plea bargain down. Plain and simple.
Secondly - I believe she abused that dog... and that dog was terribly abused!! Therefore, I hope she does get the maximum sentence - all 5 years - and is made to serve every last second behind bars. I hope she thinks long and hard about how she will treat any living creature in the future, once she gets back out and regains her freedom again. And I certainly hope she will not be so horrifically abusive any more. I also hope that she, herself, is not abused in prison; that serves no good purpose.
From the <span style="text-decoration: underline">New Jersey Star-Ledger</span>.....
<span style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="font-weight: bold">Newark woman admits abandoning Patrick the pit bull, but denies abuse charges</span></span>
By Alexi Friedman
Published: Monday, July 09, 2012, 11:34 AM Updated: Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 9:24 AM
NEWARK — The Newark woman charged with tossing her emaciated pit bull down a trash chute admitted today she had abandoned the dog but added she "never harmed him or tortured him in any way."
Following an appearance in Superior Court in Newark this morning, Kisha Curtis said in her first extended interview since her arrest last year that she did not starve the canine, which was found near dead in March 2011 at the bottom of the trash chute in a Newark high-rise.
Curtis, 28, said she only had the dog, which has been renamed Patrick and is now healthy, for just two days before leaving the animal in her hallway for the security guard to handle. She admitted she could not take care of the dog, and said the security guard would. Curtis said the dog was doing well when she leashed it to a stairwell doorknob in her hallway, adding she was upset after seeing photos in the news of the emaciated animal days later.
"He was healthy the last time I saw him, and that's how I expected him to be," Curtis said today outside the courthouse. Curtis also said she was the dog's third owner, and that she hadn't even given it a name. He was later named Patrick by veterinarians of the Tinton Falls center, where he was nursed back to health.
Curtis faces a fourth-degree cruelty to animals charge for allegedly tossing the now-famous pit bull. She has previously rejected an offer from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office calling for up to 18 months in prison, a $5,000 fine and 30 days' community service.
Curtis is applying for a pretrial intervention program, which if accepted, would eventually wipe the criminal charge from her record. Today, her public defender asked the court for more time, and a July 31 court date was set.
There is also an ongoing civil suit between the City of Newark and Associated Humane Societies, which claims custody of Patrick. Superior Court Judge Joseph Cassini III, who is handling the criminal case against Curtis and the civil case, has ordered the dog temporarily remain in the home of the administrator of the veterinary facility.
Curtis, who now has a small red heart tattoo just above her nose, said she would take responsibility for abandoning the animal but not for torturing it, and was "completely destroyed" after learning Patrick had been abused.
Now that the dog has recovered, Curtis said she is "happy about that. I wish him well...Mainly, I'm embarrassed and still feel a lot of pain." --
She has the raw nerve to turn down the generous plea bargain of only 18 months?! As widespread as this case is?? As popular as Patrick the pit bull has become??? Is this chick on drugs????? The law in NJ calls for <span style="font-weight: bold">up to 5 years</span> for the crime of abandoning and abusing a dog. She could, potentially, get 5 years... and believe me, here in Essex county, she probably <span style="font-style: italic">WILL</span> get the max sentence!... partially because most folks hereabouts - both black and white - own and love pit bulls, and partially because the white rich sections of Essex county are populated with a lot of folks who are <span style="font-style: italic">prejudiced as hell</span> and care far more about a dog than a black human being...
First off - I think she's insane to turn that plea bargain down. Plain and simple.
Secondly - I believe she abused that dog... and that dog was terribly abused!! Therefore, I hope she does get the maximum sentence - all 5 years - and is made to serve every last second behind bars. I hope she thinks long and hard about how she will treat any living creature in the future, once she gets back out and regains her freedom again. And I certainly hope she will not be so horrifically abusive any more. I also hope that she, herself, is not abused in prison; that serves no good purpose.
ROTFL 
Comment