They started it!
The owner of a pit bull accused of attacking a tiny chihuahua is alleging that his dogs were the actual victims in the incident that took place on an Upper West Side sidewalk, which gained media attention last month.
The pit bull’s owner’s attorney, Ikiesha Al-Shabazz, made this assertion following a Friday court hearing convened because the owner had disregarded a judge’s order by not turning over the two large dogs to the authorities. She also presented a purportedly exonerating video of the violent incident.
Despite the key moment at the start of the fight still obscured in the clip, she said it showed the chihuahua provoking her client’s 100-pound dog.
“They decided that they were going to lie,” Al-Shabazz said in a Manhattan courtroom hallway on Friday.
A visibly frustrated civil court judge had earlier issued an arrest warrant for her client, Joseph Columbus, due to his absence that morning and his non-compliance with court directives to surrender the two dogs.
Al-Shabazz told reporters that “this case is not as it seems,” and claimed text messages reveal the tiny dog’s owner admitted to lying about who started the canine carnage.
“I was there for the original plan to say the bite was the Pit bull, not Penny,” the messages allegedly sent from Penny co-owner Lauren Claus read, “we dropped that plan like an hour after we left the precinct.”
Al-Shabazz claims that the messages are between Claus and an Upper West Side restaurant worker she was chatting with for surveillance video of the gruesome and bloody attack last month, and has filed them as an exhibit in the lawsuit.
“So you lied too?” the worker allegedly texted back.
Reps for the owner of the Chihuahua did not comment.
“Yes,” the response reads. “We didn’t feel good about it.”
“Penny was the initial aggressor,” said Al-Shabazz. “Does that mean a dog deserves to be attacked — absolutely not.”
Claus did not respond to a request for comment on the hearing or on the messages by the time of publication.
Al-Shabazz declined to share the name of the worker, but said she could call her to testify.
According to Department of Health records and earlier reports, Columbus’ pit bulls also mauled a pair of Shi-tzu’s in January, with one later succumbing to their injuries.
The Friday morning contempt hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court was supposed to focus on Columbus’ failure to hand over the two dogs, Rambo and Zooey, after two judicial orders to do so.
Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond immediately demanded to know why Columbus was not in court.
Harassment from the public and media had sent Columbus — a “morbidly obese man” — to the emergency room with chest pains that morning, said Al-Shabazz.
The judge didn’t buy her claims that Columbus left his apartment for the E.R. at 6 a.m. that morning.
“The media was there,” Perry-Bond replied curtly, “it was all on T.V.”
Al-Shabazz asked if “the court could not express its disdain for Mr. Columbus.”
“It’s not disdain,” the judge interjected, “it’s frustration.”
Columbus had defied two orders to surrender the dogs issued this week, Perry-Bond said.
“I was very clear with those orders — and now you tell me he’s in the hospital the day of his hearing?” Perry-Bond said.
“Those dogs should have been surrendered to the NYPD,” Perry-Bond said as she issued an arrest warrant for Columbus. “I told him the consequences.”
Al-Shabazz said that surrendering the dogs meant certain death for the pups.
Perry-Bond rolled her eyes and said owners of Penny were only asking for the two big dogs to be “assessed, neutered, spayed, and have insurance, and a muzzle.”
“I understand you have your perception of this case,” Al-Shabazz said to the judge. “Your perception of the case is not fully formed.”
“Stop. Stop. Stop,” Perry-Bond shouted, just 10 minutes after the hearing began. “Stop talking. Stop. We’re done.”
“We’re looking for you Joe — don’t run Joe,” said supporters of the chihuahua as they walked by Al-Shabazz after the short hearing.
“You should be ashamed as a lawyer,” another added.
