NJ: Pup named Heaven was starved, near death at trio's city home

Tyshon Taylor, owner of abused pit bull Heaven, given 90 days in jail
Pup named Heaven was starved, near death at trio's city home
Jan. 14, 2014

ASBURY PARK — Saying the word must be spread that animal abuse and neglect will not be tolerated, a municipal prosecutor insisted on a 90-day jail term Tuesday for a 19-year-old city man who nearly starved to death the pit bull puppy he kept tethered to a pole in his family’s basement.

Municipal Court Judge Daniel DiBenedetto obliged, telling Tyshon Taylor his neglect of Heaven, the pit bull puppy, was “reprehensible.’’

DiBenedetto imposed a six-month jail term on Taylor but said the defendant would have to serve only 90 days if he complies with certain conditions, including undergoing psychological counseling and completing 30 days of community service while remaining out of trouble during a two-year term on probation.

DiBenedetto, however, allowed Taylor to remain free for 20 days while he decides whether he will appeal the sentence.

DiBenedetto fined Taylor’s mother, Amanda Boyd, 34, and grandmother, Norma Manuel, 51, for allowing the severe neglect of the puppy to occur under the roof of their Mattison Avenue home.

Boyd was fined $756, and Manuel, who ultimately dropped off Heaven at the animal hospital, was fined $506. Both women were ordered to perform 60 hours of community service.

The judge barred all three defendants from ever owning animals again.

Taylor’s attorney, Ronald Troppoli, asked the judge not to put his client in jail.

“He’s had a terrible upbringing,’’ Troppoli said of Taylor. “He’s a young man with psychiatric and psychological problems.’’

But Victor “Buddy”’ Amato, chief law enforcement officer for the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told the judge that without an agreement that Taylor go to jail, authorities would have taken the case to trial instead of accepting a plea agreement.

And Municipal Prosecutor James N. Butler insisted Taylor be given the 90-day term called for in the agreement reached with Taylor on Dec. 18.

“Heaven was a helpless, helpless animal,’’ Butler told the judge. “We’re trying to make it right and make sure there’s not another Heaven ever again in the state of New Jersey.”

Heaven was 7 months old and near death when Manuel dropped off the puppy at the Shrewsbury Animal Hospital in Tinton Falls on Nov. 13. The animal was weak, emaciated, dehydrated, unable to stand and suffering from skin infections and burns from lying in its own urine, authorities said.

Amato said Taylor kept the animal tethered to a pole in the basement of the family’s home without giving it food, water or veterinary care.

Taylor pleaded guilty Dec. 18 to criminal charges of failing to provide sustenance or veterinary care to the puppy, while Boyd and Manuel pleaded guilty to civil versions of the same charges.

On Tuesday, Manuel’s attorney, Richard J. Weber, told the judge his client has been suspended from her job as a phlebotomist as a result of the charges in the case, and that if she hadn’t taken the dog to the veterinarian, it would have died. Boyd told the judge she had to drop out of nursing classes because of the time she has spent coming to court.

DiBenedetto told the defendants he understood how they may have been stressed out, trying to support themselves, but he said that was no excuse for neglecting Heaven.

“It does not take much to feed a dog, provide water and let the dog relieve itself once or twice a day,” DiBenedetto told them.

“To allow an animal to suffer as Heaven did in your home was reprehensible,’’ DiBenedetto said to Taylor.

In the courtroom were several animal activists, as well as Christine Jeffery, the veterinary technician at the animal hospital who helped nurse Heaven back to health. Jeffery has since adopted Heaven.

“I’m happy that he (Taylor) will serve some jail time, and he’ll be able to understand right from wrong, and that when something is suffering, something needs to be done,’’ Jeffery said outside the courtroom, after the sentencing.

“Hopefully, this is a learning experience for them,’’ Jeffery said of the defendants.

Amato said afterward he was pleased that the judge handed Taylor a jail term.

“The judge did a great job,’’ Amato said. “The prosecutor was great. Everybody’s taking animal cruelty more seriously now.’’


Heaven, the abused pit bull, recovering


Abused dog Heaven recovering at hospital

News Video at Link:
http://www.app.com/article/20140114/NJNEWS14/301100140/heaven-abused-dog?nclick_check=1