MI: Schneider: After 10 months, pit bull could get closure

11:46 PM, Nov. 10, 2011

Ten months after she was bludgeoned, hog-tied and left for dead on the frozen ground of a wooded area off North Cedar Street, the pit bull known as Tatiana remains at the Capital Area Humane Society.

The man accused of the brutality, 24-year-old Ray Emmanuel Potter of Dimondale, is scheduled to go on trial Nov. 22 in 54A District Court. He's charged with misdemeanor animal abandonment.

A family member reached Thursday said Potter currently is in the Ingham County Jail and unavailable for comment.

Nov. 22 is an important date for Julia Palmer, the Humane Society's CEO — not only because she has been subpoenaed to testify in Potter's trial, but because what happens that day will determine Tatiana's fate.
In an email to me this week Palmer wrote:

"It is our hope not only that justice will be served but also that we will at last be able to provide some closure for Tatiana."

Because the 2-year-old pit bull is considered to be evidence in the case, it's "on hold" at the shelter.

"We'll work for a placement as soon as there is a resolution in the case," Palmer said.

One possible wrinkle in the dog's future is that its owner is not the one charged with the abuse. So, once the legal matters are resolved, Tatiana could end up back in the house where she was living when the abuse occurred.
Extreme cruelty

Found Jan. 19 by a man walking his dog, the pit bull's four legs had been bound together with heavy-duty electrical tape. The dog's muzzle was also taped shut. The dog also had severe head injuries — the result of blunt-force beatings, officials said.

The dog has recovered from its physical injuries. But, Palmer said, Tatiana is "still not 100 percent emotionally.

"She still doesn't handle strangers well — especially men."

Ingham County Animal Control Director Jamie McAloon Lampman, who also will testify at the trial, said Thursday she, too, has a particular interest in seeing justice served in this case.

"This was pretty heinous," she said Thursday. "Somebody wanted to make sure this animal suffered."




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