Owner Fined for Leaving Dog in Unheated House

VILLAS — Edward Brunell, of 291 E. Miami Ave. here pled guilty in Lower Township Municipal Court Jan. 26 to animal abandonment and was fined $250.
In addition, Brunell was fined $350 for owning two unlicensed dogs plus $33 per case court costs for a total about $600, according to Lower Township Animal Control Officer Don Montgomery. He said Brunell left his pit bull terrier in an unheated house without electrical service for three days.
The dog was discovered abandoned in the house on Dec. 14, 2009. The dog will not be returned until Montgomery inspects Brunell’s home for electrical service.
The dog has a $493 bill for boarding at the county Animal Shelter and must be claimed by Brunell or it will be euthanized, said Montgomery. The dog will not be available for adoption due to its history of attacks.
Brunell was fined $1,025 in Lower Township Municipal Court in 2008 for having two unlicensed dogs, letting them run loose and for the dogs causing injuries to another domestic animal.
Brunell’s two dogs, a Border Collie and a pit bull mix, escaped from their yard on East Miami Avenue and attacked a woman, her father and her dog, a Doberman which had part of his ear bitten off and suffered bites on its throat, ears and legs.
Brunell was required to install a concrete slab with a six-foot high chain link fence with a lock and a sign warning of a potentially dangerous dog.
The injured Doberman returned to the scene of the attack, found the piece of its ear that was bitten off and brought it back to its owner’s home.