Grisly NYC dog attack inspires new ‘Penny's Law' to hold negligent pet owners criminally accountable
New York dog owners would be held criminally accountable if their dog harms another animal under a new proposed state bill — which advocates say would close a legal loophole and help get justice for mauled pooches.
'Penny's Law,' introduced by Assembly member Jenifer Rajkumar this week, seeks to create criminal offenses for careless owners — including 'cruelty to animals through negligent handling of a dog' and 'leaving the scene of an animal attack.'
The new bill is named for 16-pound Chihuahua pup Penny, who was attacked by a pair of pit bulls on the Upper West Side Saturday.
The 16-pound pooch was left with multiple puncture wounds after the ambush, in which one of the dogs also bit a woman who tried to rescue the pup, PIX11 reported.
The same pit bulls are believed to have killed a dog in Central Park earlier this year while the dogs were illegally off leash, Rajkumar's office said.
The state legislation would also impose harsher penalties for those who repeatedly violate city leash laws.
'This lack of accountability has permitted numerous dog owners to allow their pets to attack other dogs,' she added. 'The same owners will allow the behavior repeatedly, often dismissing it as 'playing' or 'a dog being a dog.''
The weekend attack left Upper West Side locals fuming, prompting a town hall attended by hundreds of concerned locals Wednesday.
City Council member Gale Brewer, who is drafting similar legislation at the local level, confirmed at the meeting that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is investigating Penny's case.
'[From] East Harlem to Brooklyn, there are people who came from all over the city … because they have the same concern: somebody has dogs who attack other dogs and nobody does anything about it,' Brewer told The Post. 'The agencies try, but they operate in a silo. We need to have everyone working together.'
Dogs are considered property under state law, and police often don't get involved unless a human is attacked or a human owner participates. State Assembly member Linda Rosenthal is separately seeking to change that by pushing a bill to swap the 'property' classification to 'sentient beings.'
Penny's tragic case is far from isolated, Rajkumar's office added.
On Thursday, a dog and person were injured by an illegally off-leash dog at Riverside Park, whose owner fled the scene. Roughly 1,300 reports have been made to 311 regarding off-leash dogs this year alone.
A German shepherd that mauled several dogs and killed one on the Upper East Side struck again last summer after its owner said she planned to put it down. Rajkumar's own staff member's pooch was attacked twice by the same dog, including once in which the attacking dog was illegally off leash.
Last year, The Post exclusively reported the case of an unlicensed dog boarder who is still operating despite at least three dogs being killed by raging mutts while there, according to grieving owners.
'Everywhere I turned, I was told there's nothing that can be done,' lamented one of the tragic Brooklyn dogs' owners.
A rep for the NYPD told The Post at the time that 'harm or death to an animal caused by another animal is not a criminal matter.''
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
24 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Authorities are searching for a Washington state father of 3 dead girls
WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state father is wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. Police on Tuesday asked the public for help in finding the father of the girls, Travis Decker, 32. He is wanted for three counts of murder and kidnapping, the Wenatchee Police Department said. A police news released noted that it is unknown if Decker, a former military member, is armed. On Friday, the mother of the girls, ages 9, 8 and 5, reported to police that their father didn't return them after a planned visit, police said. Over the weekend, police looked for the children and Decker, who was believed to be living out of a white 2017 GMC Sierra pickup truck with Washington plates. Decker's unoccupied truck was located Monday near a campground, police said. During a search, officers found the bodies of the three girls. A search began for Decker. Anyone who may have seen Decker since Friday or knows his current location is asked to call 911. 'Due to safety concerns do not attempt to contact or approach Decker,' police said.
Associated Press
24 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Thunder have 5 players on the court. The way they see it, 18,000 helpers are in the stands
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — There is something different about Oklahoma City Thunder fans, and players aren't afraid to say that. The crowd of 18,000 or so always arrives early. They stay late. They show up in the middle of the night at the airport to welcome the Thunder charter flight home and maybe get a wave or a fist bump from a player, even though a chain-link fence separates the team from the fans. It's like a college atmosphere at Thunder games at times. It will be a raucous atmosphere on Thursday: Game 1 of the NBA Finals is coming to Oklahoma City, and the top-seeded Thunder — big favorites over the Indiana Pacers in this series — freely say that the fans have factored into the team's success. 'I think the fans put the wind at our players' backs,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'There's not a level of judgment. There's no level of skepticism.' It is ... well, unusual. In a good way. Daigneault tells the story of a game on Oct. 26, 2021, as one of the best illustrations of what the relationship is like between the city and its team. The Thunder were 0-3 to start that season, the three losses by 21, 33 and 12 points. Golden State visited Oklahoma City that night; the Thunder led by 11 at the half, before eventually losing by eight. 'They gave us a standing ovation at the end of the game,' Daigneault said. 'And it was a week into the season. We had not won a game. As great as they are right now, and they are unbelievable right now, that's the one that I always go back to because it really struck me. It certainly was unexpected.' The Thunder have given fans plenty of reasons to cheer since. They're a league-best 43-7 at home this season; the last four teams to win at least 40 home games in a full season — Toronto in 2018-19, Golden State in 2021-22, Denver in 2022-23 and Boston last season — went on to win the NBA title. And this year's club is winning home games by an average of 16.9 points per contest. That's on pace to be the second-biggest such differential in NBA history, behind Milwaukee's 18.1-point average home margin in 1970-71. MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said keeping the home crowd happy is on his mind all the time, and he was thinking of it when the Thunder closed out Minnesota at home in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals last week. 'I didn't want to go back to Minnesota, travel-wise,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'And then I wanted the fans to be able to enjoy the moment with us. I wanted them to be able to see it unfold in front of their eyes. I wanted them to be to celebrating in our building, go home, get drunk, whatever they do. I wanted them to have fun with the moment. ... I just wanted to make sure I could give my energy and my effort to try to give these fans what they deserve.' ___ AP NBA:
Associated Press
24 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Hawaii housing czar demands church return housing for homeless elderly
The state's Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions is demanding that a Korean church either return or pay $20,000 apiece to buy20 state-owned tiny housing units installed in their Honolulu parking lot. The demands were outlined in a letter sent to the pastor of Hawaii Cedar Church by the governor's homelessness coordinator, Jun Yang. In it, Yang said the Kalihi church was not authorized to use the units and must immediately stop. The units are occupied by previously unhoused kūpuna and families. Installation of the units was completed in August during the tenure of Yang's predecessor, John Mizuno, using donated contracting services. Gov. Josh Green has made tiny homes a cornerstone of the state response to endemic homelessness and he set a target to build 30 kauhale villages as part of his pledge to cut the state's homeless population in half by 2026. At the opening of another kauhale in December, Green talked about the need for 'continued partnerships as we work together to make lasting progress.' The Cedar Church kauhale was specifically named in a presentation Green and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi gave in May last year about Hawaiʻi's response to homelessness as one of 17 projects then on track to open. But Civil Beat has confirmed the state and church had no written agreement regarding the installation of the 20 units, and that appears to be where the church project has run afoul of Yang's office. Yang declined a request for an interview Friday and in an emailed statement said the letter was sent in anticipation of a management and performance audit of the state's Kauhale Initiative required under a bill approved by legislators this session and sent to the governor for approval. 'As such, we are taking steps to ensure that state property is safeguarded, state contracting standards are met, and that tiny homes like those on the grounds of Cedar Church in Kalihi, are used in accordance with state standards for kauhale services,' he wrote. Yang's letter makes no mention of contracting standards, kauhale services or safeguarding state property in the letter — and only outlines conditions for the return or purchase of the units. The correspondence took the church pastor the Rev. Duk Whan Kim by surprise, according to the church's attorney, Ernie Martin. Attempts to reach Kim directly were unsuccessful. Martin said Kim had worked closely with the state homelessness office on the project under Mizuno's leadership and believed there was a mutual understanding about the units and their intended use on church property. Martin said he has contacted Yang's office and is working to resolve the conflict. The letter gave the church a May 27 deadline to respond or the state would 'immediately arrange to remove the property,' but as of Monday the units were still in place and occupied. Mizuno — who suddenly stepped down as the state's homelessness coordinator in February and now works as a special advisor to the governor — did not respond to voicemail or texts requesting comment. Mizuno's deputy director, Eric Ford, declined to be interviewed when reached by phone. Rep. Lisa Marten, who chairs the House Committee on Human Services and Homelessness, said Monday she hopes the conflict can be resolved because she is impressed by the church's commitment to helping homeless and vulnerable people after visiting the site, 'but they could do more.' Given the state's move to more formal contracts with its kauhale partners, Marten said she wasn't surprised the homelessness office was doing its due diligence. The state has no data on residents and no say in who gets to access the services at the church, she said. But the additional documentation could eventually enable the congregation to access more state funding support — including money already budgeted — that could enable them to provide additional services, including medical. Return Units Or Buy Them, State Says The 20 units on the church property off Kamehameha IV Road were purchased by the state from HomeAid Hawaiʻi as part of its production of tiny homes for the Kauhale Initiative, CEO Kimo Carvalho confirmed. Competitive bidding for the construction of the units was waived under an emergency housing proclamation issued by Green in September 2023, and HomeAid has been the sole-source supplier. HomeAid Hawaiʻi produced 1,079 of those units in 2024, according to its website. 'The former homeless coordinator took 20 of those units to Cedar Church in July, and that's the extent of HomeAid's involvement,' Carvalho told Civil Beat. But the nonprofit was not the sole-source contractor for installing all the kauhale sites, Carvalho said, adding that the grading of the church site and utility connections were completed using donated labor and materials from another company, Prometheus Construction. Prometheus VP Cliff Tillotson declined to be interviewed for this story. Ford, Mizuno's former deputy, now works for the company. Hawaii Cedar Church is a Korean congregation and sits on a 30,000-square-foot parcel — including the parking lot where the kauhale are located — purchased for $1.34 million in December 2011, county property records show. The church hosts a food pantry, and has a history of providing food relief and emergency housing, previous reporting shows. The church has also operated the Waiʻanae Cedar Farm, a 4-acre property where it placed small sheds to provide low-cost emergency housing, Hawaii News Now reported in 2021. Mizuno and Kim — the pastor at Cedar Church — have a connection dating back more than a decade when Mizuno was state representative for Kalihi, before he resigned in December 2023 after Green tapped him to become the state's homelessness coordinator. Mizuno replaced James Koshiba who had been in the state role a year and had 'set the stage' for the ambitious project, Green said. A dozen kauhale opened under Mizuno's watch, and discussions for Cedar Church began around April of 2024. Speaking to the Kalihi-Pālama Neighborhood Board in July, Mizuno said the Cedar Church project was 'the first Kūpuna Kauhale for homeless kūpuna over 60 years old and those that may be coming out of the ER, medical respite patients, or medically discharged.' In August, Mizuno posted a video walkthrough of the completed kauhale to Facebook, showing installed living spaces, amenities including shower units and laundry, and individual garden beds. Six months later, Mizuno was publicly criticizing the costs of running some of the state-funded kauhale and he stepped down from the role in February, taking on a special adviser position in the same office. He was replaced by Yang, former homeless coordinator for the state Department of Transportation. The church appears to have its fingers caught in the door now that the new state homelessness czar wants to tidy up the books. A Star-Advertiser report on July 17, 2024, says HomeAid Hawaiʻi's 100-square-foot homes cost $16,000 to produce. Carvalho is featured in the photo story, which shows housing units heading to Hawaii Cedar Church, according to the caption. Yang's letter, however, asks the church to pay $20,000 per unit if they move ahead with a plan to buy them. 'If the HCC wished to purchase the units, payment shall be made to the state within 45 days of the date of this letter.' As of Monday, it's unclear whether the church is considering that option. The cost of the housing units themselves, concerns about kauhale running costs and questions about the absence of receipts for the estimated $37 million in HomeAid Hawaiʻi contracts underpinned conference committee discussions on housing this legislative session. Lawmakers ultimately voted to expand Green's Kauhale Initiative, providing a $50 million funding base through 2026 and 2027. The funding package also included provisions for quarterly reports on expenditures from Yang's department, and the performance and management audit of the Kauhale Initiative — the one outlined in the state's May 16 letter to Cedar Church. ___ This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
