posted May 14, 2010 06:55 PM         

The dog had been scheduled to be euthanized Friday afternoon. But she is now under the care of a Pocono Pines woman who has agreed to take ownership.
Bella was tagged with a “dangerous dog” designation after Carlton filed a formal complaint with the dog warden.

That designation stays with the dog under the new owner. But she says she will fight the charges in court with financial assistance from a group of PoconoRecord.com forum readers who banded together after reading about Bella's plight.

That offer to help pay the legal bills helped make the transfer in ownership possible.

Pennsylvania dog law requires owners of dangerous dogs to maintain costly insurance and pay high annual registration fees. That's something Bella's previous owners, Ben and Jo Anne Teichberg, could not afford.

They had frantically been searching for a rescue group to find a way for Bella to live outside the restrictions forced upon the family, otherwise they felt they had no choice but to put her to sleep.

posted May 23, 2010 01:53 AM         

The future of a 9-month-old pit bull puppy labeled dangerous remains uncertain just a week after she escaped with an eleventh-hour reprieve from a scheduled euthanization.

Meanwhile, she's under another quarantine, based on a second incident that's even murkier than the one which first got her in trouble. The case features several troubling aspects, and puts the state's dog laws and those responsible for enforcing them on center stage.
The puppy Bella allegedly bit pop star Vanessa Carlton while the three-time Grammy nominee jogged near her parents' home in Shohola on May 2. Carlton, a PETA spokeswoman, pursued the case against Bella and filed formal charges. As a result, the local dog warden charged the puppy as a dangerous animal.

The classification would have subjected her owners, Ben and Jo Anne Teichberg, to hefty insurance and registration fees, something they couldn't afford. It also requires owners to confine the animal in an enclosure and muzzle her anytime she must go off property for a veterinary visit.

The Teichbergs felt the combination of expense, loss of Bella's quality of life and their inability to mount a legal challenge left them no choice but to euthanize Bella.

But less than 24 hours before Bella's scheduled May 14th execution, the Teichbergs transferred Bella's ownership to Pocono Pines dog rescuer Maria McKenna, who vowed to fight the state's charges and train the puppy so she could eventually return to the Teichbergs.

Since then, the Teichbergs have been charged with harboring a dangerous dog and failing to confine it. The fines amount to a little under $300, but still leave Bella and her new owner to fight the dangerous dog label.

Pennsylvania's dog law lists several criteria which can lead to a dangerous dog classification, including a history of attacking people and a severe bite. There's also a seemingly contradictory clause citing a propensity to attack humans, which the law says can be determined from a single incident.

The law also allows the state to tag a dog as dangerous if it simply chases a person or animal. Yet, no official has told the Teichbergs the basis for the summonses.

Sue West, Pennsylvania's bureau director for dog law enforcement in Harrisburg, refused to say why Bella and her former owner are being charged. According to Justin Fleming, spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, it was a matter of protecting the state's case. "We don't want to give away our strategy to you," he said.

But under questioning, West said Carlton suffered a "severe injury with bite marks," a remark West later denied making.

The Pocono Record obtained a picture of Carlton jogging, allegedly taken a few days after being bitten. Her ankle was clearly bandaged in the photo. Although Carlton wouldn't return calls, her sister, Gwen Carlton, said the singer was jogging to increase circulation so her wound would heal faster.

West said if someone was bitten and it was more than a minor scratch, the department would file charges, even if it wasn't sure the dog was going to be a threat to the public. "We want to let the judge decide that," she said.

One act that can lead to a dangerous dog conviction is if the dog "attacked a human being without provocation." Yet, Creature Comforts' Dr. Karin-Susan Breitlauch, who was recognized as the state's top vet this year, rejects the claim that Bella attacked Carlton.

"A real pit bull attack would have left her hospitalized," Breitlauch said.

Breitlauch defended the often maligned breed.

"The vast majority of pit bulls are sweet, loyal dogs. They can be protective, but get a bad rap because they are powerful. Their owners need to have training with the dog, but a pit bull will be very obedient. They do not deal well with situations where they do not know the rules."

West alluded to a second attack by Bella, although she admitted no formal complaint was filed. That incident resulted in a second quarantine of Bella, a 10-day period where she must be confined indoors and observed for signs of rabies. That quarantine came just a few days after Bella's release from her first quarantine by the state.

West refused to provide any information about the second incident. But Ben Teichberg said one of his daughter's friends was scratched while playing with Bella in the Teichbergs' home. That guest, a high school student, went for a Band-Aid at school two days later, and the school nurse reported the incident to state dog enforcement officers.

Referring to the incident, West said "that validates the charges we did file."

Carlton hasn't returned any of several calls placed to her for comment. But she'll probably have to testify in court, according to West, if Bella's new owner pursues her challenge of the dangerous dog label. That's likely to create a media frenzy, since the story, Carlton's notoriety and work as a PETA spokeswoman has caught the attention of news outlets across the country.