She'll have chance to prove pit bulls aren't vicious

Jersey Journal
by Ronald Leir
Monday March 31, 2008, 6:36 PM

The Bayonne owner of two pit bulls has been given a week to prove that her dogs don't pose a threat to people or other animals, or face the possibility that they'll be put down.

Last week, a city health department employee removed Sasha and Princess, the pit bulls owned by Allison Fabrycki, of Meadow Street, after the dogs allegedly attacked a neighbor and other dogs in three separate incidents dating from January 2007 and placed them -- for now -- in the custody of the Humane Society in Newark.

Fabrycki was ordered to appear in Municipal Court last Thursday to address the city's concerns for residents' safety and to deal with eight summonses charging her with keeping unleashed and unlicensed dogs, failure to file dog bite papers, having a vicious dog and other violations.

She didn't appear Thursday, so the judge issued a bench warrant compelling her appearance today and she complied.

Afterward, Fabrycki said in a phone interview that the court is permitting her to return April 8 with any documentation she can bring to support her contention that her dogs are "gentle, playful" animals who are being "antagonized" by an unfriendly neighbor.

Fabrycki said she's collecting letters from her dog groomer, neighbors, and others who can back up her assertions.

"I've had them since they were pups and they've never bitten a person," Fabrycki said. "The kids next door play with them all the time." And, she said, they're a comfort to her disabled mother, who lives with her.

Fabrycki acknowledged that last year, the dogs could wander from her yard because the gate wasn't properly secured but, since then, she said she's "put two latches and a padlock" on it. "My dogs are vaccinated -- they have all their shots," she added.