So the guy has 6 dogs who are acting aggressive and the police are supposed to call animal control and wait for them to show up and do something? So what would have happened if someone walked down the street to go to work and got mauled? Then everyone would have blamed the police for sitting on their asses and being lazy and not taking care of the situation. You can never win with the people on JCList I guess.

I am fine with the police doing what they did. Whether they were pit bulls or just large mean aggressive dogs, they obviously were running around, unleashed and were behaving in such a way that the police felt they had to intervene. I assume someone called it in because they felt it was a dangerous situation. Even if it didn't go down that way, no one should have 6 large aggressive dogs running around unleashed in this city.

At what point did animal rights become more important than public safety?

Four of the six pit bulls unleashed on his front porch


Gary Burgess Jr. with two of his dogs


Gary Burgess Jr.'s daughter with one of his dogs

==========================

Jersey City man charged with letting 6 pit bulls attack police officers and resisting arrest held on $10,000 bail

Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 6:52 AM
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal

Gary Burgess Jr., left, makes his first appearance at Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City today on charges he allowed pit bulls to attack police officers.
The Jersey City man who cops say was responsible for six pit bulls being unleashed and fighting in the street Sunday morning appeared in court today on charges he allowed the dogs to attack three officers.

Bail for Gary Burgess Jr., 29, of Wegman Parkway, was set at $10,000 bond or $1,000 cash during the hearing before Judge Richard T. Nieto in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City.

Burgess is charged with three counts of third-degree aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

Cops shot and killed four of the dogs during the incident that occurred around 5 a.m. on Old Bergen Road near Neptune Avenue.

Assistant Prosecutor Guy Gregory said today that police reports indicate that the aggravated assault charges relate to the fact that the dogs were unleashed and Burgess allowed them to attack three officers. None of the officers were injured, officials said.


Enlarge Lauren Casselberry/The Jersey Journal
Gary Burgess Jr.'s dogs
Pittbulls killed in police attack gallery (7 photos)
City spokesman woman Jennifer Morrill said in a statement that two surviving young dogs were treated by a veterinarian for neglect and malnutrition and are now at the Liberty Humane Society animal shelter pending a court hearing.

Shareeda Nelson, the mother of Burgess' children, told The Jersey Journal today that she owned one of the dogs that police killed, 1-year-old Geeda, and Burgess owned another, 2-year-old Roxy.

She said the couple's 6-year-old boy and 7-year old girl are "distraught" over the death of the dogs.

"I know the dogs," Nelson said. "The dogs were not vicious and were not mistreated. They are family dogs. The dogs interact with the kids."

Several residents said yesterday they heard two sets of shots, seven to nine shots in all.
====================

Neighbors describe yesterday's scene of pit bulls being shot by cops in Jersey City

Monday, February 13, 2012, 11:56 PM
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal

Gary Burgess Jr., 29, of Wegman Parkway in Jersey City
Several residents in the area of Old Bergen Road and Neptune Avenue in Jersey City said they were awakened by the sound of gunfire yesterday morning, which turned out be police officers shooting and killing four pit bulls.

According to Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, six unleashed pit bulls were fighting in the street. Officers responded to the scene and "numerous shots" were fired at the dogs as cops confronted a "very dangerous" situation, DeFazio said yesterday.

The owner of the dogs, Gary Burgess Jr., 29, of Wegman Parkway, was subsequently charged with animal cruelty, resisting arrest, and aggravated assault on a police officer, officials said.

Several residents said today they heard two set of shots, seven to nine shots in all.

"It was like firecrackers exploding," said a resident of Old Bergen Road near Neptune Avenue. "It was just like the Fourth of July explosions."

Sarah Clay, 24, a mother of two young girls, said she saw the "gruesome" sight of a wounded large pit bull dog on her porch and blood splattered on her door.

The dog crawled down the front steps to the front door of the basement apartment, she said.

Sylvia Steed, 64, a neighbor of Clay, said she saw an officer shoot the dog on the basement steps with a shotgun.

"One shot knocked the teeth out of the dog's face," Steed said. "It was sad the way they (police) did it."

Steed said another dog was lying dead on the street in front of her driveway.

Police Lt. Edgar Martinez, the department's spokesman, declined yesterday to provide further information about the incident, saying the investigation is in the hands of the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.

DeFazio said today the dogs were "running amok." When cops confronted Burgess about the dogs being unleashed, Burgess refused to leash the dogs and confronted one of the officers, DeFazio said.

Jersey City Animal Control Officer Joe Frank, who could not be reached yesterday, told police that some of the dogs showed signs of neglect and that his office intended to file charges of neglect and animal cruelty against the owner, Martinez said yesterday.

I'm with the cops on this one.

Pit bulls at-large and fighting in the street with no owner present and most likely unregistered .... if I had the power to shoot them I would of.

Its not as if it was poodles in the street fighting or labradors or golden retreivers - When a pit bull attacks, its a 'too the death' offensive be it a human or other animal.

Quote:

Thank you. There was a wild pack of dangerous dogs here; it had badges.

I read the follow up article where they speak to neighbors....these cops gunned them down ....shooting one of thm that was on a porch.

My opinion, informed by my own interactions with these thug/criminals that are in the JCPD....guy had his dogs off leash had words with the cop....so the cops killed his dogs.

This wasn't a wild pack of hungry dogs running in the street....the danger to the citizens was the gun play by these likely roided up cops

With six unleashed pit bulls fighting in the street -- I assume animal control would have needed to call the cops! Luckily it was 5 am -- and there were no small children or elderly people -- let alone anyone else! I am very sure the cops themselves were pretty scared of six fighting pits -- wouldn't you be?

Quote:

Quote:

And I wonder what would have happened if they'd contacted animal control and captured the animals alive.

Quote:
That was one irresponsible owner, I wonder what could have occurred if the police did not show up...in time ??

The police are going to file charges of neglect and animal cruelty against the owner. Meanwhile, they're the ones who shot the dogs.

It must have been confusing for residents: I'm not sure I could tell the difference between armed JC police officers and unleashed pit bulls.

View Larger Map Police responded to the area of Old Bergen Road and Seaview Avenue on the report that six unleashed pit bulls were fighting in the street

Follow up,there has been an arrest.
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... describe_saturdays_s.html

Jersey City police shot and killed four dogs that were running loose and fighting early Sunday morning, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_cops_shoot_and_kil.html